The Onyx  original
by Syntonik
Summary: Amy is kidnapped after a simple mission goes horribly wrong, and is presumed dead after Sonic & co. fail to find her. Rated T for violence and language. Final chapter now up for Book I . Please R/R!
1. Chapter 1

I do hope that this version will be much better than the original. There were many plot holes that would've made the future chapters very confusing, thus, my reason for taking it down and revamping it.

Those of you who have bore with me as I've struggled in getting the revised version off the ground, I thank you.

Those of you who took time out to read the original version, I thank you, and hope that you find this enjoyable, hopefully more.

So, without further adieu...

* * *

Sonic and all other various Sonic The Hedgehog characters are Copyright SEGA, Sonic Team, TMS Entertainment, and all other associations affiliated with the Sonic X anime/manga. All other characters belong to their rightful owner (me) and have no similarities with above-said characters whatsoever. Names used for other characters are random. Any people bearing the real name, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

* * *

The Onyx

1

Numb with emotion did the weary and solemn travelers aboard the X-Tornado feel as the jet hummed a nonchalant path home, minus a beloved comrade. Normally teeming with conversations that covered everything from thwarting another one of Dr. Eggman's plans, to baking apple pies, there was nothing to be heard but the engines on that night as their future had now become an uncertainty.

Though there was no real hierarchy to the band of friends, it was simply assumed that Sonic was the intrepid leader of the pack, but even that seemed moot compared to the intense deluge of anger, fear, frustration, and sadness weighing like the proverbial ton of bricks on his mind. He looked up to the full moon above for any advice he thought it might give him, fighting back tears triggered by the aforementioned stream of emotions, so that he could at least put his mind at ease and allow what little hope there was left to come to the forefront. But the moon could only offer its solemn glow, paled by its permanent metallic half.

In despair, his mind began lapsing backwards. Everything was going so right, he thought, how could this have happened? Why?

Nine years had passed since Chris Thorndyke made his unannounced departure from Sonic's world, courtesy of Dr. Eggman's contraption that somehow breached the time continuum to allow Chris to return to his world without the use of chaos control. Though it was never explained how, it, nevertheless, rejuvenated his determination to defeat Sonic and build his empire.

Again, the daily routine of thwarting the evil doctor's plans began for the team until the seemingly endless supply of mechanical creatures and weapons were finally depleted, causing Dr. Eggman to flee into submission, where he had not been heard from for a long time.

The resulting peace that had long been awaited had finally come, though it was tough to settle down for the first few months, as no one really expected the maniacal genius to actually lay low for so long. But as a few more months passed with, still, no sign of activity, the reality gradually set in, allowing the gang to finally take advantage of some well-deserved personal time, engaging in endeavors they normally would never have had time for.

By a mutual agreement, it was decided that the chaos emeralds would be held alongside the master emerald so that their powers would be neutralized by the giant gemstone, guarded by Knuckles day and night.

The echidna had no problem with the decision, as he knew how careless Sonic could be. After all, it was him who had set off chaos control that sent everyone into Chris' world in the first place.

"What about Rouge?" Sonic had asked him, knowing that the two had started a close relationship with each other. He knew the notorious jewel thief would stop at nothing to get her hands on the chaos emeralds, and even the master emerald. She knew of their potential power, but never knew how to tap into that power. She just liked the way they looked. Sonic was simply worried that Eggman would be able to manipulate her into giving the emeralds to him, as he had done before with promises.

"She's not going to touch any emeralds," Knuckles had concluded gruffly. He defended the fact that although he may have started a relationship with the voluptuous bat, he swore to the rest of the team that his lifelong duty of guarding the master emerald came first, as that had been entrusted in him by his ancestors, as would protecting the chaos emeralds. And with a deeply furrowed brow rippling with seriousness, the team understood. However, Tails made it a point to keep one back so that the X-Tornado could still have some kick to its engines.

It turned out to be a wise decision, as within a few months, Knuckles approached the group bearing news that Eggman had somehow managed to nab the emeralds, courtesy of a note from Rouge, who had vanished herself, not having been seen or heard from again.

Sonic knew Knuckles would've been taken advantage of, as well as what would've happened once the thief had the jewels in her greedy hands, but decided to hold off on telling him, as a face full of angry fists wasn't all that inviting.

They would just have to go get them back.

"Vacation's over, everyone," he had said, after calling everyone together at Tails' lab. The mission was simple: sneak into Eggman's base and steal back the emeralds that were stolen from them. They'd done many times before, and this would've been no different.

Upon arriving at Eggman's latest hideout in the X-Tornado, it was pretty clear to the team that the evil doctor was losing his edge in mechanical engineering, as the base looked rather dilapidated, looking as if things had been thrown together in a careless rush.

"This is almost insulting knowing how easy this is gonna be," Sonic laughed.

And it was, at first, as Tails easily hacked the security code using the password: EGGMANRULEZ. Almost casually, the team advanced through the base, using the same password upon every door they came to. There were no sensors, no motion devices, nothing that would detect their presence and set off a chorus of klaxons that would even awaken the narcoleptics.

Once into the main storage room, they noticed a crude mechanical storage unit that held the emeralds in place. It looked as crude and beat up as the rest of the base.

Sonic felt a troubling sensation tiptoeing up his spine. This is too easy, he mused as he stared at the metallic ceiling tiles, mismatched in dull, pale colors. Way too easy.

"Let's just grab them and get out of here," Amy said, plucking one of the emeralds free from its housing. "This place stinks."

But as soon as she grabbed the gleaming blue emerald, a large cage-like structure suddenly dropped from the ceiling, trapping the pink hedgehog inside with a scrambled security code on the adjoining control panel.

"Amy!" Sonic shouted, dashing over to join Knuckles as he began to pry at the bars.

Though everyone was taken by surprise, it wasn't something Tails' tech savvy or the sheer strength of the echidna and the blue hedgehog couldn't handle. But what they didn't know was that they were about to become victims of bad timing.

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So, was this better? Worse? Nauseating? Let me know so that future chapters won't be affected. Thanks! 


	2. Chapter 2

Sonic and all other various Sonic The Hedgehog characters are Copyright SEGA, Sonic Team, TMS Entertainment, and all other associations affiliated with the Sonic X anime/manga. All other characters belong to their rightful owner (me) and have no similarities with above-said characters whatsoever. Names used for other characters are random. Any people bearing the real name, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

* * *

2

Not only did Dr. Eggman make an early and unscheduled appearance; but also G.U.N., through a nearby wall, softening their targets with a thorough round of tear gas.

Time the team once had to retrieve the emeralds, as well as freeing Amy, was suddenly reduced to seconds as the gas began taking an immediate effect, as everyone began dropping to the ground, their eyes stinging and watering uncontrollably.

Amidst the brewing chaos within the thick, white fog, Sonic, through swollen eyes, caught a glimpse of several G.U.N. agents donning gas masks raising their rifles.

"Amy!" he yelled as the agents fired.

Instantly, Eggman, Knuckles, and Amy fell to the ground, as did Sonic's heart. But as the blue hedgehog slumped to the ground, helpless, Tails sprang into action, flying over, unnoticed, and scooping up the downed echidna as one of the agents cut through the cage using a laser and grabbed the unconscious hedgehog, quickly throwing her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and disappearing through the hole in the wall.

"Sonic, what are you doing?" Tails whispered loudly, landing by the crestfallen hedgehog with the downed echidna. "We've got to get out of here and go after Amy!"

As if ready to tell his longtime friend that it was pointless because she was dead, Sonic noticed a small dart protruding from Knuckles' back.

Tails saw the confusion furrow Sonic's brow. "Tranquilizers, Sonic."

The hedgehog quickly glanced up to his friend, glaring. He knew what they were. Amy had only been drugged, not shot dead in front of him. He became pissed at himself for simply assuming the worse instead of acting.

"Get Knuckles to the X-Tornado," he hissed, his eyes narrowing. "I'm going to go get Amy."

The smoke from the onslaught of tear gas had begun to thin as it continued to escape through the hole in the wall, but it didn't do much for the burning sensation that still clung to Sonic's eyes as he poked his head from behind the fallen table he and his two-tailed comrade had taken refuge in. He watched as the remaining agents struggled to drag the portly Dr. Eggman through the hole, as well as gather the chaos emeralds.

Sonic raised an eyebrow, trying to figure out why G.U.N. was after the emeralds, as well as Dr. Eggman and Amy. They'd been gone for several years, and were hailed as heroes upon their departure, except for the doctor, of course. So why was this happening?

But he pushed aside his inquisitive motions and focused, instead, on the more pressing matter at hand: getting Amy back. However, he remained patient, knowing that a hasty move on his part would put his friends and him in the same situation Amy was in. Though tempted, as that would at least bring the group together, he was unsure of just how powerful the drugs inside the tranquilizers were. Being out for a long period of time would allow the humans to imprison them in intricate setups with zero hopes of ever escaping. It wasn't exactly the way he wanted to spend his personal time.

Once the last agent disappeared through the wall, Sonic motioned to Tails that the coast was clear, then dashed through the wall, quickly taking cover behind a tree as the retreating agents ran toward a large circular machine that was somewhat silhouetted by the shade of a large tree as moonlight shined behind it. It looked awfully familiar to Sonic, as he rubbed his eyes to try and get a better look, but with the lingering symptoms from the tear gas attack, it wasn't easy.

But once he saw the machine become illuminated with the chaos emeralds' glow as they were placed in some sort of recessed storage area, the familiarity finally struck a chord in Sonic's head. It was the same teleportation device Chris Thorndyke had used to return to Sonic's world.

Sonic's mouth fell agape at the thought of Chris deceiving him. No way, he thought, trying to make sense of what was unfolding. There's no way Chris would do that to us. They stole it from him. The bastards must've stolen it from him.

A blinding white light soon indicated that Sonic had paid too much attention to his thoughts, and within seconds, the group, the machine, the emeralds, Dr. Eggman, and Amy, were gone.

"Amy!" Sonic cried as he zoomed to where the agents had once stood. They had been replaced by just the shadow of the large tree. His shoulders sagged, but inside, he clung to one simple belief that she was not as weak as others may have assumed her to be simply because she had a knack for finding herself in situations she couldn't resolve by herself. She could certainly take of herself if it absolutely came down to it. He reminded himself of that, so as to not lose faith.

Not yet, anyway.

The cunning hedgehog had found a way to free herself from captivity most of the time, usually within a matter of days depending on how intricate the imprisonment was, as well as how effective her Piko hammer would be. This, along with how she acts when her volatile temper is triggered in the wrong manner, allowed the team to begin investigating all possible leads to her whereabouts instead of simply caving to panic.

Though Sonic's strength and leadership were always well maintained in similar situations, the team noticed that he had begun to show signs of separation anxiety, which came as a surprise to the rest of the team, considering much of his time was spent as far away as possible.

Sonic loved adventure. He constantly yearned for it. But even with such feelings boiling in his blood, he'd rather just skip ahead to the part where Amy would invariably return, unharmed, snapping him back to reality so that he could shrug off his anxieties and classify them as simply being over-reactive.

But as time passed, and with no signs of Amy anywhere, those anxieties began to surface. The whole area went into high alert, and the search for the missing hedgehog now became a top priority.

Finally, after more than twelve days had passed with still no sign of Amy, and not one single clue to even start from, Sonic decided that a possible answer might lie with Rouge since she had worked as a G.U.N. agent at one time; an idea he wished he would've acted on a lot sooner.

But as he dashed toward Angel Island, he was fearful that his idea would be met with a little criticism.

He was right.

"You've got to be freakin' kidding me!" Knuckles roared, slamming his fists into the concrete foundation, which cracked considerably. "Go to her for help after what she did? Absolutely not!"

Sonic noticed that the master emerald was still in its place, though still in a half-shattered state after their last battle with the Metarex, which seemed like an eternity ago. "Knuckles, the master emerald is still here. You'd think she would've taken that, too."

"And just because she didn't, that makes it all hunky-dory, doesn't it. Well, for your information, mister, she did take it!"

Sonic's eyebrow rose. "She did?"

Knuckles sighed and leaned against a pillar that used to hold a chaos emerald atop it. Now, he had to tell Sonic the whole story.

"When I came to you with the news that she'd taken the emeralds, did you not notice how wishy-washy I was?"

Sonic tried to cheer up his friend. "Come to think of it, you did look like somebody gave you an inappropriate enema."

It didn't work, and the echidna's face reddened a little with anger.

"ANYWAY, Sonic, I was that way because I felt like I betrayed you guys because I failed to do my job, which was to guard the emeralds. I should've known she'd do something like that to me. It's all about the jewels with that woman. Nothing else matters to her. Not even me."

Sonic watched him slowly slide down the pillar until he was sitting on the ground, deflated, defeated, and distraught.

"You were right, Sonic the Hedgehog," he confessed some more, "She used me to get her hands on the emeralds, then she ran to Eggman with them to probably get more jewels as a payment promised to her. When she and I got together, I really thought it was because we loved each other. Everything felt right about it, Sonic. I felt loved. For once in my life, I felt loved."

Sonic could only look at his friend succumbing to his emotions. He could tell that he had completely fallen for Rouge. It sickened him to know that she stooped as low as she did just to own a few gleaming baubles. He hated seeing his friend down, but the only option he had left was to try and talk to the jewel thief to get any kind of information that would lead him to Amy.

But for now, he let Knuckles continue to get his frustration and sadness off of his chest. Obviously, he had wanted to, and Sonic proved to be the only friend willing to listen, mainly because he was the only one who had come to visit him.

The echidna suddenly handed a note to Sonic; one that was far different than the one he had read the first time:

_By the time you read this message, I will have already taken the chaos emeralds to Dr. Eggman. I know there's no forgiveness for what I've done, and I expect none. Please understand that I'm in a situation I've never been in before, and it scares me. Dr. Eggman promised to me some things that will help me, as I assumed you just wouldn't understand. I took his promise up, with the emeralds being his cost._

_I'm returning the master emerald because I know it can neutralize the power the chaos emeralds contain once all seven are together. I know how Eggman can be, which is why the master emerald is best left in your hands. I know it's a moot point to even say such a thing, as by now, you must be pretty pissed off at me. I don't blame you at all._

_Perhaps one day, you'll understand what it is I'm going through. But by then, I'll know it'll already be too late. I'm sorry for everything I've put you through, and want you to also know that I still love you with all my heart, though I doubt you now feel the same way._

_If you ever want to talk, I'm willing to, too. I'm now at apartment 131-b on Sapphire St. It's the black building._

"The note I gave you is the one I wrote," the echidna said.

Sonic kept staring at the letter wrought with regret, unable to say anything.

"She seduced me. She took advantage of my love for her by stooping to the lowest possible level just so she could get easy access to the emeralds. For that, I'll never forgive that conniving whore."

Sonic felt terrible for his friend, and tried to console him, as he'd never seen him so down in all his life. "I understand what you're going through, buddy. What she did wasn't right at all, but looking at this letter, there had to be a good reason."

"_Good_ reason? A good reason? I hope to the echidna gods that you're not serious. She gave herself to me, Sonic. We made what I thought was love right here by the master emerald, but we didn't. She used me, took what she wanted, and flicked me to side like a used up cigarette. You tell me where you see a good reason in that."

"She had a problem."

"Then why didn't she come to me about it? Oh, right, she thought I wouldn't understand. She thought I was stupid. You know what, she's right, I _am_ stupid; stupid for ever letting myself get involved with her."

"I don't think she thought you were stupid."

By now, the echidna's temper was starting to flare. "God damn it, Sonic! Whose fucking side are you on? She's the one that took the damned emeralds in the first place! She's the one that used me to get to them! She's the one that got Amy into where she's at now! Think about it, Sonic! Had it not been for that woman taking the emeralds, Amy would be here right now. Can't you see for once how evil she really is? She doesn't give a shit about anyone but herself, and you know it."

The echidna's words washed over him like cold bathwater, but they held the truth, every one of them.

"I know you probably don't like seeing me like this, but I can't help it. If you want her help, then I'm sorry to say that you can count me out. I don't want anything to do with her, and that's that."

As much as Sonic believed in his friend and ally, it was tough to stick to his decision to go to Rouge.

But, he did.

"So be it, then, Sonic. You have five minutes to get off this island. If you're not off of here by then, you will be deemed an intruder that's after the master emerald. And as a sworn defender to the emerald, I cannot allow that."

Sonic turned, but before leaving, he had to say one more thing; something he knew the echidna couldn't ignore. "Tell me, Knuckles. If you really didn't want anything to do with Rouge, then why did you keep the letter?"

He, then, dropped the paper, having memorized the address, and left.

* * *

Kind of a long chapter, eh? Here's hoping you like it. Chapter 3 will be up on Monday, barring any unforseen network problems. Thanks for reading! 


	3. Chapter 3

Sonic and all other various Sonic The Hedgehog characters are Copyright SEGA, Sonic Team, TMS Entertainment, and all other associations affiliated with the Sonic X anime/manga. All other characters belong to their rightful owner (me) and have no similarities with above-said characters whatsoever. Names used for other characters are random. Any people bearing the real name, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

* * *

3

The streets of the city were teeming, as the inhabitants were hurriedly rushing to both their homes, and nowhere in particular, as their workday had finally come to an end. Sonic's expression was rather smug as he adroitly dodged the passers-by, noting that they had gone back to their daily routines in life, unknowingly, and innocently, forgetting that one of their own was lost in a whole other world; alone and probably terrified beyond her belief.

Almost thirteen days had passed by since Amy had disappeared, their candor suggesting that they'd simply written her off. They had more important things to tend to than to spend time looking for someone that was already dead. Sonic figured that that was the general consensus amongst the people rushing to and fro, tending to young ones, talking on cell phones, hailing taxies, and eating their dinner on the run. He sighed. He knew they'd given up on her, but didn't understand why. Would they have given up if someone they really cared about was kidnapped, and had gone missing for almost two weeks?

He noticed some people whispering to each other while staring at him, probably wondering why he still bothered to keep searching. Perhaps they were extending some rumors that had spawned from the news of Amy's disappearance. Perhaps they were thinking that he was behind it, which was just plain silly, but he wouldn't put it past them. After all, they weren't thrilled about him causing the chaos control that melded their world and Chris' world into one for a short while. And they knew that he really didn't want anything to do with the pink hedgehog, other than be teammates and friends, so why not just accept the hand fate had dealt him and move on?

Sonic could only look away from the pessimists. He couldn't just accept it. He wouldn't. She meant too much to him.

The black building, he reminded himself as he noticed the street sign above him: _Sapphire St._ Fitting, he thought, noting Rouge's hardcore lust for jewels, and, apparently, anything bearing one of their names.

He waited for the streetlight to change, deciding not to run for now, as there were just too many things to think about.

There was no denying the dynamic chemistry Sonic felt for Amy over the years, be it out within the dangers of the field, or just at her house, enjoying a hot apple pie amongst the company of others. Having her as a close friend constantly provided him with that little bit of excitement he couldn't find by jumping on incoming missiles, dodging laser shots, or bulleting through robots, as well as a warming comfort, though he vowed to never share that with anyone simply because he didn't want to be labeled a "softy".

But he dared to not persuade fate to his advantage, keeping their relationship to nothing more than a friendship. He knew Eggman would've targeted her time after time had their togetherness been for more romantic reasons, to simply lure the blue blur out for a fight. It wouldn't have been fair for Amy to suffer through all that, though he knew that she wouldn't have minded as long as he would've come to save her.

He let out a slight chuckle at the thought of her constantly being the damsel in distress, and him, the hero, always crashing through at the right time to save the day, get the girl, and live happily ever after as all the tales of heroism regularly put it.

Happily ever after, he said to himself as he caught sight of the black building on Sapphire St., several blocks away. Happily ever after meant living the carefree life of just taking off on a run whenever he felt like it, to nowhere in particular, or just lying around in a field of flowers, or napping at the highest part of the highest tree, simply enjoying the scenery. Happily ever after means spending time with your friends, as well as with loved ones…

"Loved ones," he whispered to no one, distraught. He knew that without Amy in his life, there'd be no such thing as a 'happily ever after'. But the cold shoulder he had given her for so long; what if she had decided to give up on him? What if she decided that she didn't want anything to do with him?

His mind began aching as he approached the door to the black apartment complex, mindful of the fact that Amy would someday wish to fulfill her life in maternal ways, fearful that perhaps he had blown his one and only chance that he had in the palm of his hands for quite some time.

Silently, he cursed those stupid tales of heroism as he entered the building.

Wow, nice place, he mused, taking notice of the elaborate chandelier that hung proudly above the floor, which gleamed of black and gray swirled marble. It was just like Rouge to surround herself with lavish settings, especially those that resemble jewels.

But as he approached the elevator, he couldn't help but feel the eyes of those inside the complex upon him, prying, wondering why he was there.

"Excuse me," a voice from behind a security counter asked, aimed directly at Sonic. "You have to check in first, sir."

Sonic threw a sharp glance to the security guard, as if offended that he had been addressed by such a common term.

"That's the rules, Sonic. You should know that."

Half-heartedly amused by the guard's matter-of-fact candor, he casually approached the station. "This is my first time to this place. I'm usually off doing other things such as battling robotic minions, saving lives, defeating Eggman. You know, more important things than sitting around doing nothing."

"Who are you here to see?" the guard asked through pursed lips, quite offended by the hedgehog's lack of respect.

"Rouge. Rouge the Bat. I believe she's in 131 B."

Immediately, the guard cast a sideways glance to his partner. His partner stopped in mid-drink of his coffee. Others within earshot suddenly stopped what they were doing and stared at Sonic as if he had suddenly become flatulent.

"What?" the hedgehog asked, a little uncomfortable at the reaction he had gotten.

"The penthouse is no longer filled," the other guard said sharply, placing his hands on the counter. "And it's off-limits."

By now, the hedgehog had become irritated at how everyone had been treating him, but maintained his composure. "What do you mean 'it's off-limits'?"

"Police orders, Sonic. No one gets near it. _No one._"

The seriousness in the guard's voice, as well as his expression, eventually caused Sonic to retreat somewhat. But that didn't stop him from spotting a door to the stairwell. As portly as the guards were, he knew he'd have at least a few minutes to see for himself why Rouge's apartment was vacant, and, apparently, off-limits.

The guards also noticed that Sonic had eyed the stairwell, knowing they were about to be burned.

And with a devious smile, he did just that.

"Damn you, Sonic!" the guard yelled as his hat, as well as his coffee and several papers, flew off onto the floor as the hedgehog literally disappeared into a blue streak that burst through the stairwell door.

Within seconds, he exploded through from the stairwell to the two penthouse apartments, with one displaying yellow police tape crisscrossing the door to Rouge's apartment.

Cautiously, he approached it, recalling what Knuckles had told him. He was right in that she had been the cause of all that had happened. Amy would still be there had it not been for the jewel thief's greed.

But what was troubling to Sonic was the note the echidna had given him. It reeked of regret, and yet, he never acknowledged it. It was understandable that he was upset at what had happened to him, but the letter seemed like a genuine explanation and apology. Why, then, would he continue to carry on as he did? And why would he write a fake note, making her out to be far worse than what she really was?

Sonic was becoming more and more confused at all that was happening as he peeled off the tape and grabbed at the doorknob to see if it was locked. Surprisingly, it opened easily, unveiling a scene that made Sonic's mouth drop open with shock.

Disarray was the main theme within the apartment, as overturned chairs, splintered cabinets and ripped pictures made it seem as if a hurricane had been contained there. More shocking, however, were the walls that were laden with bullet holes. They made an eerie zigzag pattern, as if whoever was firing the rifle was following Rouge as she ran from one side to the room the next. However, the shooter found its mark, as Sonic, after following the intricate pattern as if it were a connect-the-dots puzzle, came upon two more holes within a sofa that were lined with blood and circled with chalk.

"My God," he whispered, following the small circles of chalk up to the window, where the curtains swayed lazily before the sharp spikes of glass that had remained stuck in the frames. She had obviously escaped, but he wondered if she had survived the gunshots she had taken.

He knelt down and picked up a broken picture frame, the picture inside partially ripped, which was of Rouge and Knuckles. It had become all too obvious who was responsible: G.U.N. It had to have been.

Sonic slowly walked back toward the rear of the apartment, where the bedrooms were, wondering why Rouge had become a target of the very organization she had actually worked for at one time. Surely, they would've forgotten about her by now, as well over ninety years would've passed if the time continuum between the worlds had remained the same.

It doesn't make sense, Sonic thought, opening the door to her bedroom, which had also looked as if a twister had wrecked havoc in there. The only way she was involved with Amy disappearing was when she took the chaos emeralds from Knuckles and brought them to Eggman for some sort of payment. But why would G.U.N. want the chaos emeralds?

A revelation suddenly came to Sonic. "Eggman."

It made sense, sort of. G.U.N. had captured Eggman so that they could brainwash him into creating wartime robots that could possess enhanced powers from the emeralds. That part made sense, but why they needed Amy still didn't.

He needed to go back to Eggman's hideout, feeling as if it might contain the one clue that could lead him to Amy. But upon leaving the room, he noticed another picture that had fallen to the floor. Curious, he scooped it up and turned it over, his eyes suddenly widening.

The picture was of a toddler, a girl, sporting small black wings, a rose-color on her fur, and wild hair that was tipped with shades of red, dangling around her eyes that almost glowed of amethyst purple, just like a certain echidna's.

Now, Rouge's letter made perfect sense.

* * *

Sorry about the delay in updating, folks. There were some network issues I had to tend to at work. Bleh. :P 


	4. Chapter 4

Sonic and all other various Sonic The Hedgehog characters are Copyright SEGA, Sonic Team, TMS Entertainment, and all other associations affiliated with the Sonic X anime/manga. All other characters belong to their rightful owner (me) and have no similarities with above-said characters whatsoever. Names used for other characters are random. Any people bearing the real name, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

I decided to revise the ending to this a little bit to (1) add a little something spicy to it so it wouldn't be so boring and unfulfilling and (2) better prepare how the next chapter would come out.

* * *

4

"I'm in the city park, Tails," Sonic spoke to his communicator, which was illuminated with the two-tailed fox's face. "I'm looking for Rouge for some possible answers to all this."

A troubled look fell across his friend's face. "Are you sure? I mean, look what she did to Knuckles."

"I know, but G.U.N. is behind this, and she worked for them at one time. She can, at least, tell us something of importance, like where their headquarters are. Anything helps, Tails. So far, we've got nothing to go on, and we're running out of options."

An uneasy silence permeated the tree Sonic had taken refuge in from the security guards that had tried in vain to pursue the hedgehog. While waiting for a response, he pulled back a small branch that allowed him to look out onto the nearby street after he heard a few muffled murmurs closing in. In looking at the bewildered, and portly, gentlemen entrusted with their sworn duty to uphold all rules of the apartment complex that had a penthouse reduced to Swiss cheese courtesy of G.U.N., Sonic almost let go a laugh at how easy it was to side-step them.

But he didn't, as his eyes also noticed the growing shadows that indicated another day was about to pass on with no Amy.

"Sonic, I don't know what to say," Tails eventually said, deflated. "I mean, I know what you're saying, but I just can't trust her. She's the one that took the emeralds in the first place. If she had left them alone, Amy would still be here safe and—"

"I know, Tails, I know!" Sonic griped, not about to listen to the same argument again. Perturbed, he rubbed his eyes, wondering if Tails was next in line to betray Amy and him, just like Knuckles had done. "Look, I don't know what to do. I don't know where else to go, or who else to talk to that can give us at least something to go on. If there was someone else that could tell us where Amy might be being held, I'd go to him or her right now, but there's not. I know what Rouge did was crappy. I don't need to be reminded of that, but what's done is done. She obviously had her reasons for doing so. Though they may not have made much sense to us, they made sense to her, as she was in a dire situation, apparently. Do you understand now why I have to find her?"

He looked at his friend, hoping he wouldn't notice the feigned ignorance of why the jewel thief lived up to her stereotype after supposedly giving it up to further her relationship with Knuckles. He didn't like keeping secrets from his friend, but he knew if he couldn't paint a more optimistic picture of the backstabber, he'd be stuck trying to find Amy alone, and there was just way too much ground to try and cover while clinging to the dimming hope that she was still alive.

"Please trust me on this, Tails."

After a long, hard silence, his friend finally responded with a very surprising 'no'.

"Sonic, I can't go along with this. Who's to say she won't do the same thing to you? We all trusted her to help keep a watch over the emeralds, and she screwed us all. Say you find her and ask her all these questions you want to ask. Are you really going to believe her words? She could lead you on a wild goose chase that takes you nowhere, and Amy would still be missing, probably dead by the time you'd realize you were only chasing your tail all along, granted she's not dead already. You're telling me you want to take that risk?"

Sonic bit his lower lip as his friend's words stung his skin like a cold winter breeze. They were all true, and the hedgehog hated it.

"Tails," Sonic said through pursed lips, "Listen to me. Amy is depending on us to find her. Right now, we have to take risks. Even if I have to obtain information from the one responsible for all this, I'll do it. If it leads us to Amy, then I think it's worth it."

Tails' expression remained unchanged, but he couldn't look Sonic straight on.

"So that's how it's going to be."

With a curt laugh of frustration, Sonic angrily switched off the communicator and slumped back against the crown of the tall oak, rubbing his temples. First, it was Knuckles who withdrew himself from the search, now Tails. Both were too concerned with what Rouge had done instead of the real reason they had been searching everywhere for Amy, day and night for over two weeks. It was as if they no longer cared; as if they were just like everyone else he had seen on the streets, having already assumed the worst had happened, and leaving it at that.

A stern look curled across the hedgehog's brow. He wasn't about to give up, as surrendering just wasn't in his nature. However, trying to find a starting point had become increasingly difficult.

As was staying awake, for the days and nights without rest had finally caught up to Sonic. His eyes grew heavier until they inevitably closed as the last moments of the day faded into night, lulling him to sleep.

His slumber wouldn't last long, however, as he was awakened by a familiar voice that didn't seem to be very far away. With a yawn, Sonic pulled back a branch and squinted to try and see where the voice had come from.

He heard the giggle of a young girl, and quickly glanced toward the playground where he saw the toddler in a swing with her mother, Rouge, gently pushing her.

"Rouge," he whispered before hastily cupping his hands over his mouth, knowing that the bat had superb hearing. He immediately began cursing himself when he saw the bat suddenly lose her smile and search for where she had heard her name called out.

He watched closely as she motioned to the child not to make a sound by placing one finger over her lips while still looking for where the sound had come from, then plucked her free from the swing, letting her ride piggyback as she took off toward the darker part of the park.

Sonic quickly began pursuing her, knowing that he couldn't let her get away. If she did, even more time would pass before she would eventually be found, which would prove to be moot, as Amy would have surely been dead by then.

"Rouge, wait!" Sonic yelled as he easily closed in on her, noticing that she no longer bore the regalia he had been accustomed to seeing on her. She now wore jogging pants and a hooded sweatshirt, hidden somewhat by her daughter, who turned her head and stared at the fast-approaching hedgehog with fear. "Rouge!"

With grit teeth, the jewel thief cast a quick, hateful glance at Sonic before taking to the air, flapping her wings madly as her offspring held on tightly.

Undeterred, he dashed out to the street and stared up at the sky until he saw her fly over him, resuming his pursuit once he saw where she was headed to: an older building that looked abandoned.

Quietly hidden within the shadows of the other buildings that towered above him, Sonic waited. He was determined to get the information he was wanting so that he could start his search for Amy. He was convinced that his search would take him into the alternate dimension by way of chaos control, but it wouldn't matter to him.

But in mentally preparing his plan, he couldn't help but reflect on Rouge's little girl's eyes that were fixed on him as he chased after her mother. Though filled with fear, they still seemed to glimmer a magnificent purple, just like her father's would when he would find out that he had fathered the child.

Sonic knew that there was no denying that Knuckles was the father: the wild locks of hair that draped over her face, much like the echidna's dreadlocks; the tints of red that showed up along her wings, as well as the tips of her hair, but mostly the eyes. He figured that once he would get the information from Rouge, he'd tell him the news. Surely, he would've understood and forgiven her.

And in one fleeting moment, Sonic wondered what it would be like to be a father before quickly discarding it as Rouge floated down by the entrance to the run-down building that was also hidden in the shadows.

Quickly, and as quiet as he could be, the hedgehog followed once she went in, disappearing into the darkness. Through intermittent beams of light that cascaded into the dark room, courtesy of the one street lamp nearby, Sonic had able to identify the building as a former hotel, left to rot with time.

He darted his eyes side to side, hoping to find any sort of irregular movement that might tell him where the bat was hiding. Instead, he heard the faint sound of a child crying above him.

Immediately, he ran over to the old-fashioned spiral staircase, glancing upward for a moment before running toward the sound.

Sitting within a brightly illuminated circle of light from the street lamp that had reflected off of a mirror was Rouge's daughter, clutching a small toy and whimpering as if she had been left there for hours.

"It's okay," Sonic said softly to the child, slowly approaching it while looking around the room for any traps Rouge might've set. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Rouge, what in God's name are you doing, Sonic wondered as he stretched out his hand toward the cowering child, who, understandably frightened out of her wits, retreated a little, letting go another howling wail for her mother. Why are you doing this to her?

"I'm a friend of your mommy's," Sonic said, trying any method he could to calm the cries. "I just want to help you."

Sonic took a few steps closer to the child, again, stretching out his hand. But instead of being met with another ear-piercing cry, the toddler unexpectedly, while still whimpering with uncertainty, inched toward the hedgehog, reluctant to believe his promises.

"Please?" Sonic said, smiling, but still trying to scan the room for Rouge. He knew she was hiding within the shadows, waiting. But for what? He had come to help her, not hinder.

Somewhat soothed by Sonic's promises, Rouge's daughter allowed him to come to her until his hand was able to feel her velvety soft hair. Immediately, he wrapped his arms around her in a protective hug. Instinctively, the girl stopped crying, as she was now secure.

"See? I told you I wasn't going—"

He suddenly felt cold steel poke his head. The moment Rouge had waited in the shadows for finally came as the hedgehog let down his guard once his focus switched to calming the young girl, which had been merely a pawn.

"Even you can't dodge this, Sonic," Rouge hissed, pressing the barrel of the handgun harder against the hedgehog's skull.

The child's emotions suddenly switched from reluctant and scared to joyful once she heard her mother's voice, promptly bolting from Sonic to Rouge's leg, hugging them tightly.

"You've got ten seconds to tell me why you're following us, Sonic. Otherwise, I turn your head into jelly."

Sonic could hear the trepidation in her voice. It quivered, as did the gun pressed against his head. "Rouge, I'm not here to hurt you or anything. I only want some information."

Obviously, that turned out to be the wrong thing to say, as she jabbed the gun harder against his head, nearly toppling him.

"Information, eh? So I guess you're working for _them_, now."

Thinking clearly, Sonic decided to try and use a little white lie to get out of the jam. He didn't particularly like lying to his friends, but anything that could help was worth trying.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Rouge. I only came after I read the note you left for Knuckles."

"You…read that?" Her voice quivered again, and the gun literally bolted against Sonic's head relaxed, granting Sonic the opportunity he'd hoped for.

Quickly, he spun around and tried to knock the gun free from Rouge's hand, but upon smacking her forearm, realized that she had switched the gun to the other hand.

"Nice try, you lying bastard," she growled, squeezing the trigger.

It was fortunate Sonic still had his speed at twenty-five years of age, as he somehow dodged the bullet that whizzed by, taking a few bits of hair from his quills. However, he wasn't about to sit and admire his luck, quickly taking to the shadows as Rouge squeezed off another round that narrowly missed, ripping apart an old picture frame.

"Don't think you can hide in the dark, Sonic!" Rouge yelled, scanning the room, her sensitive ears twitching, waiting for any sort of movement to tickle them with Sonic's location. Her voice tinged with a little bit of insanity as it drowned out her daughter, who had begun to cry after hearing the loud bang echo throughout the dusty corridors.

She fired again and again, blindly, as Sonic, holding his breath, remained perched atop a robe-like valance that had once been a beautiful shade of violet, now paled by years of neglect.

"You are working for them, aren't you! You're working for G.U.N. trying to rat me out! You're not taking us, you hear me?"

Again, she fired, this time ripping apart a piece of the wooden pole holding the valance Sonic was sitting on, sending splinters into the hedgehog's face.

He flinched, with a slight grunt, which was all Rouge needed to spot him. He watched as her eyes focused on his location, and, as if actually seeing him, flashed an evil grin as she drew up the handgun.

Sonic bit his lower lip. Sorry, Rouge, he mused before leaping from the wall in his rolling attack form. Though virtually impenetrable in its own right, it still had its vulnerabilities.

"No!" she yelled as she saw the blur of blue rotation burst into the light, aimed at her. She squeezed the trigger one last time before she was knocked against the back wall with a resounding thud, her pistol careening toward a pile of dusty debris.

Sonic flew backward until he indented himself into the adjoining wall, large pieces of plaster and paint falling free from the impact.

And as the fog of dust clouded the entire room for a moment, the only sound that could be heard was that of a crying young girl who clutched her toy as tightly as she could.

* * *

Hope this one ended a little bit better. It's a little more riveting than before. 


	5. Chapter 5

Sonic and all other various Sonic The Hedgehog characters are Copyright SEGA, Sonic Team, TMS Entertainment, and all other associations affiliated with the Sonic X anime/manga. All other characters belong to their rightful owner (me) and have no similarities with above-said characters whatsoever. Names used for other characters are random. Any people bearing the real name, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

FINALLY! I know it's been a long time since I last updated...a long, LONG time, to be exact. My health has been up and down, and with frequent visits to the hospital, my time has been all but nonexistent. I know that's no excuse, but it is the truth. I'm on the rebound, now, so I was able to finish this long chapter. As my health hopefully continues to improve, so will my schedule for updating this story, as the good stuff is nearing.

I hope you enjoy the chapter, and I do promise that the next one shouldn't take near as long. There'll be a slight delay at first as I'm moving offices at work, but it shouldn't take nearly as long. Thanks to everyone who is reading this, or who has read it!

* * *

5

Blackness was all Sonic could see as he walked among the seemingly endless void, searching. His eyes scanned in every direction just to see if there was anything even remotely visible, be it Amy, or just his own two feet, or his own two hands. But there was nothing.

Nothing, except for the faint sound of crying.

"Amy!" Sonic gasped, before slowly cracking his eyes open, realizing that his imagination fueled on by hope had toyed with his mind once again.

He began removing the large chunks of plaster and wood that had fallen on him after he had plowed into the wall, courtesy of Rouge's gunshot that had viciously ricocheted him in his attack form. Dust had found its way into his mouth, causing him to cough and hack up the ages-old sediment that had become a blackened mucous, clinging to the sides of his throat as if he had eaten a large peanut butter sandwich with no glass of milk to accompany it.

Though raucous with his attempts to open his lungs, it didn't seem to deter the toddler's efforts to wake her mother, either by her constant wails of frustration, or her shoving her mother's head, desperate to wake her.

Still dusting himself off between intermittent coughing spells, he managed to make his way over to where the gun lay, managing to keep his eye on the emotional child and her still unconscious parent. He'd seen such things all over the place, mainly within the hands of policemen who had both been his friend and enemy, but had never actually felt one in his own hands.

He stared at the gun for a moment before kneeling down to pluck it from debris-laden floor, marveling with a little intimidation at how such a small piece of steel, springs, and levers could cause such havoc and heartbreak. Upon curling his fingers around the handle, a stinging and burning sensation rippled up his arm and into his head, triggering a slight grimace. He quickly looked at his communicator, which had become a sparking, sputtering, useless piece of junk from where Rouge's stray bullet had laid waste to it.

Guess it could've been worse, Sonic wondered as he unhooked the latch and let the communicator fall, revealing a narrow, groove tainted with his blood behind. A lot worse, he thought.

Again, he wrapped his fingers around the handle, lifting the handgun up to his eyes to examine it. For something that had left a burning wound in his wrist, the metal felt uncomfortably cool.

Rouge had begun to stir as Sonic continued to examine the gun, which brought a little relief to her daughter, silencing her cries as she slowly began to sit up. "Sapphire?" she moaned, holding one hand to her head, which had a small stream of blood running lazily down her face, the other, around her daughter, comforting her.

But as her senses came to, she noticed the hedgehog standing nearby, her gun in his hand.

"What do they want from us, Sonic?" she scoffed through pursed lips, frustrated that she was helpless to do anything. "Our lives? How much did they pay you? I'll double it if you just leave—"

"Rouge, I don't work for G.U.N." Sonic replied, still averting his attention to the gun. "I never have. I told you I just want some information on something."

Rouge's brow curled with disgust, not believing that Sonic would play her off as just another ignorant woman that'll believe anything. She eyed him carefully as he kept turning the handgun over and over, looking something she wasn't sure of. Whatever he was looking for, his attention was on it, and not her.

She literally jumped at the opportunity, pummeling Sonic with a screw kick and watching him smack the wall, the gun flying off in the opposite direction. But as she landed, her head felt as if it were ripping apart with pain. She knew she had to get the gun, as a hand-to-hand combat would quickly turn toward the hedgehog's favor. He was quicker and obviously stronger than she was at the moment, and she knew it. She hated it, too.

Sonic, shaking his head to regain his senses, cast a hateful glare at the jewel thief, who was still reeling from the pain in her head. "Damn it, Rouge! Stop this! This isn't what I want!"

Smiling deviously as she had always smiled when she had her opponent flustered, albeit in an unusual way at the moment, she casually wiped another small teardrop of blood that had found its way to her mouth. "I do."

"Aw, hell."

Again, she lunged at him, ignoring the searing pain that tore through her skull as she threw a series of punches, all of which were blocked by Sonic at the expense of his already wounded wrist.

He stopped her second attack with a solid kick to her side.

She stepped backward, panting and squinting from both the searing pain rippling across her forehead and the trickles of blood that had begun to mix with sweat, which had managed to weave a path to her tear ducts. The kick had no apparent ill effect on her.

"Rouge! Stop it now!" Sonic pleaded. But, they fell on deaf and defensive ears, as she raised her bloodied gloves up for another round.

Sapphire, who had taken refuge up against the wall, hiding her face behind her plush toy, decided that she had seen enough, just like Sonic. "Mommy!"

The small cry disrupted Rouge's focus for a split second, causing her to glance over to her daughter, which was more than enough time for the blue hedgehog to strike one final time.

He dashed at the bat, grabbing her by her arms and pinning them behind her as he smashed her face to the wall.

"I said that that was enough," he huffed as he drew a knee up and wedged it into her thigh, leaning in on her, preventing her from escaping. "Now stop."

Rouge struggled to free herself for a moment, unwilling to accept defeat as her daughter, again, began crying, as this wasn't what she expected to see happen when she wanted the two to stop fighting. She felt his hot breath glide across her shoulders and delicately kiss her cheek as he panted, catching his breath from the previous fight.

"S-Sonic, what're you doing?" she whined, still unsure of his presence, now becoming frightened. He had her pinned in an awkward position; free to do anything he wanted to do.

It was convenient that where he had her pinned, the gun had landed nearby after her initial kick that had started the chaos. Maintaining his grip on her arms with one hand, he managed to pick the gun up, resting it on her shoulder, bringing another whimper from Rouge, as she had begun to fear the worst was about to happen.

"Sonic, don't. Please." She pleaded.

"The bullets, Rouge." Sonic said, tapping the handle of the gun with his thumb. "How do you get them out?"

A look of both relief and confusion washed over her eyes. "The…bullets?"

"Yes, the bullets."

For a moment, she had forgotten that she had even owned a gun, let alone know how to eject a used up magazine. Instead, she silently scolded herself for doubting Sonic's purity, knowing that he would've never resorted to sickeningly sadistic measure just to get his point across.

But a gun to her was like a bicycle to everyone else. You never forget how it works. "You pull the slide back and lock it," she instructed, still slightly nervous. "The magazine should just drop out."

Sonic looked at the gun, having no clue what she was talking about. "Rouge, I'm going to let you free so you can…uh…do what you just said. I'm not going to fight you anymore. I'm not going to hurt you or your daughter, nor would I ever. I only want your help, understand?"

As soon as she nodded, she felt Sonic release her arms and back away, and slowly turned around to face him. He handed her the gun with a stern face, as if letting her know that if she tried to make a move, she'd pay for it.

Instinctively, as she had been properly trained by G.U.N. when she worked as a special agent, she took the gun, racked the slide back briskly, and let the magazine fall into her other hand, all while eyeing the hedgehog with the same mental demeanor.

Sonic was impressed, though he didn't want to show it.

For a moment longer, they eyed each other before Rouge, finally, dropped the gun to the floor, setting off a wave of relief among the two. The air was still tense, but the trust had, at least, begun to somewhat rebuild itself.

"So is it too late to say I'm sorry?" she said, honoring her daughter's outstretched request to pick her up.

Sonic let go a nervous chuckle. "Maybe I should ask the same thing."

Both shared a brief, nervous laugh before Rouge offered that they continue their conversation in a place not so dusty and damaged thanks to their tussle. Both knew that that was just an excuse, as the aroma in the air was an obvious indication that the earlier chaos had literally scared the crap out of Sapphire.

As Sonic expected, the area Rouge had carved out of the dark, neglected corridors was rather lavish, adorned with all sorts of electronic wizardry that could easily bring the most technological geek to his knees, as well as a cleanliness only a museum would be hard-pressed to compete against. Obviously, she was someone who preferred to live by her prolific tastes of style.

Eggman had definitely paid her well; Sonic was sure of that, as he continued to appraise the room he rested in, picking out pieces of plaster that was still embedded in his wound.

But what was missing was the plethora of jewels he figured she would have displayed upon every conceivable place within the room. Among those, he had hoped to see a couple of familiar emeralds, but didn't.

Sapphire suddenly burst into the room from the adjoining hallway, running as fast as her little legs would allow her toward a small pile of stuffed toys, crashing into them as if they were unsuspecting victims, and her, the terrorizing monster of doom. Her demeanor was so innocent and naïve, it was as if everything she had witnessed had suddenly vanished into thin air, bringing everything back to normal, and as it should be in her eyes.

Sonic admired it with a brief smile, still hoping he would go home and find Amy waiting for him, unharmed. Then, perhaps everything he had been through would do the same thing as it did for Sapphire.

Rouge eventually walked in and noticed the hedgehog staring intently at her daughter. "Hard to believe that terror on two legs came from me, isn't it?" she said.

He sensed that she was trying to delay his inevitable string of questions. The reasoning was certainly understandable, but time had become a factor. He'd have to stick to his guns if he were to ever find Amy.

"Rouge, what I told you earlier," Sonic explained, averting the focus back to why he had followed her home in the first place, "About needing your help? I need you to tell me where G.U.N. headquarters is located."

The faint smile she did have when she looked down upon Sapphire playing with her toys, dissolved into a look of defeat as she listened to Sonic explain to her what all had happened.

"She's been gone for almost two weeks now, and we've got nothing to go on; no clues. Nothing. I know they took her into the other dimension because they used the same machine Chris used to teleport himself here. I don't know how they got their hands on that machine, or even how they got it to work, but they did. I know I can perform chaos control, as Tails and I each have a chaos emerald, but I need your help in finding where they're at. You're the only one who knows more about G.U.N. than anyone else."

Sonic noticed the jewel thief hanging her head low.

"Rouge?"

The jewel thief had stopped listening to the hedgehog. G.U.N., she reminded herself as her mind swirled with memories of the attack until she could almost see herself and her daughter, resting comfortably in their apartment, simply living out life the way fate had designed for them, until it decided to induce its other plans.

Her head began to throb faintly as she could almost hear the approaching helicopter's blades slicing through the night air, its floodlights casting an almost blinding light through curtains that hid them from the rest of the world.

And then the sudden hail of bullets that shattered the patio window, zigzagging a pattern of holes up and down the wall as it searched for her. Somehow, amongst the maelstrom of confusion and ear-piercing sounds of Sapphire's cries, the breaking glass, and the thunderous, repetitive blasts from the guns mounted on the helicopter, Rouge had managed to scoop up her daughter and vanish into a nearby closet, narrowly dodging the rounds that tore apart small belongings.

Hidden by the darkness of the closet, she tried to make sense of the ensuing chaos that continued to wreck havoc in her living room, as well as try to show motherly instincts in calming her terrified daughter.

And then it dawned on her why her apartment had been reduced to rubble, and her the target: the chaos emeralds.

But before she could attempt to wonder why they wanted the emeralds, as well as how they knew she had a couple of them, the guns suddenly stopped, allowing only a whistle of wind to fill the void that was once her lavish penthouse apartment. She reached up to grab the doorknob, assuming that whomever tried to kill her had assumedly done so, but suddenly stopped when sounds of crunching glass bits tickled her ears.

She remained frozen in place as she heard the footsteps make their way back to her bedroom, where she heard the muffled sounds of destruction, as the intruder was obviously searching for something. She dared not move, for even one sound would've alerted him.

She glanced down at the bottom crack, fighting back a cry of terror that ached in her throat as she saw the shadows of the intruder's feet stop just outside the door. She closed her eyes, praying that he would just walk away.

Her prayer had almost been answered had it not been for Sapphire's fear finally breaking free with a faint whimper. Immediately, the doorknob turned, flooding the closet with light mixed in with the soldier's silhouette.

He grunted in satisfaction of finding the targets as he lifted his rifle, ready to complete his assignment.

Rouge immediately dove toward the soldier before he could get a shot off, landing her fist deep into his abdomen, knocking him up against the wall of the hallway and his rifle into the living room. As any mother would in defending their child from harm, she quickly looked back to see if Sapphire was okay, which she was, but in doing so, allowed the soldier time to counter with a fierce shot of his own that sent Rouge flying into the living room.

She recovered, but not quick enough, as the soldier delivered several kicks that bounced her off the wall and the couch until she was sprawled out on the floor, blood seeping from her mouth and nose. As a last resort, the soldier placed his boot atop her head, pinning it to the floor as he assumed his victory was near.

The pain was about as unbearable as the man's victory speech, thankfully ending with a command to the helicopter that he would meet them at some rendezvous point after he would "tie up loose ends." But as he continued to issue commands to the helicopter pilots, she noticed a large shard of glass within reach.

"Yes, I'm sure she's got them. Go on ahead," the man had said into his walkie-talkie, laughing chauvinistically, "I'll get this little piece of shit to tell me where they are, then I'll meet up later."

After clicking the walkie-talkie off, he cast a devious grin laced with a disgusting aura of sensuality.

"You know," he said, kneeling down and running his finger down her back to the top of where her tail jutted free from her pants, "If I weren't human, I think I'd just have to take advantage of this situation you're in."

The mere thought that anyone could think they could easily do something so sick and vile to her was enough to make Rouge want to vomit profusely. Instead, it fueled her growing sense of anger, allowing her fear to be simply discarded.

As the man began to laugh at his own sick humor, she quickly grabbed the shard, ignoring the fact that its edge started cutting into her hand, and stabbed it deep into the unsuspecting soldier's ankle.

Immediately, he fell backward, yelling and cursing in agonizing pain as he instinctively reached for the piece of glass that was quickly becoming discolored with his blood as it oozed freely from the gaping wound, but unable to remove it as the searing pain had obviously become too much for him to overcome.

Though her body ached tremendously from his counter attack, Rouge managed to get to her knees before spotting the rifle just a few paces from the couch. She leapt for it, but came up short by mere fingertips.

She quickly looked behind her and noticed that the soldier had a firm grip on her ankle.

"Now you die, you bitch!" he snarled, reaching for his handgun with his free hand while trying to drag Rouge backward.

She struggled toward the rifle, with it sliding just out of her finger's reach. She could feel it; move it; but could not get a firm grip on it. She cursed silently, knowing if she could just somehow get a little closer…

With one last, desperate attempt, she opened her wings as full as she could get them, giving her more than enough leverage to grab the rifle. The sheer sight of the wingspan stunned the soldier for a brief moment, giving her just enough time to get her finger on the trigger, firing blindly toward her captor.

Thankfully, the bullets hit their mark, tearing through his head and chest; droplets of blood and brain matter accompanying their hasty exit into the wall and couch behind him. He slumped back onto the floor, his last breaths of life exhaling in a bubbling gurgle.

Rouge kept a shaky grip on the rifle, as all she could do was lie in the same spot, gasping for air, her wide eyes fixated on the bloody corpse that still held an icy, but lifeless grip on her ankle.

Sewn onto the soldier's sleeve was a G.U.N. emblem.

Her mind abruptly returned thanks to repetitive attempts to break her trance from Sonic, who continued to lightly shake her until she finally looked up at him with a teardrop clinging to her bottom eyelashes.

"Are you okay?" Sonic asked, feeling her tremble beneath his fingers. "You were kind of freaking me out there, for a minute."

She reluctantly nodded.

"It was G.U.N., Sonic," she mumbled, abruptly wiping away the tear. "Somehow, they knew I still had them."

The hedgehog's mouth curled slightly at her response, clarifying his initial theory that G.U.N. was behind the attack on Rouge's apartment, but the other thing she had slightly confessed to was something he knew he should've known all along, as Knuckles should have, too.

She still had at least one emerald; two by way of how she worded her initial confession.

But Sonic was unable to say much of anything, as the situation twisted its complexity a little more. Had she left the damned emeralds alone, the whole thing may not have happened, as Knuckles had proved before to be a worthy guardian. But, on the other hand, the agents that stormed Eggman's base used a chemical gas that even the physically strong echidna succumbed to. Had the emeralds been left with him, they would've all been taken by G.U.N. for nefarious uses since they kidnapped the evil genius.

Sonic sighed, troubled, confused.

"What a dilemma," he said; looking to the ceiling for any ideas it might give him.

"What do you mean?" asked Rouge.

"Think about it. Everyone is angry because you took the emeralds from Knuckles, later giving them to Eggman."

The bat looked sheepishly toward Sapphire, who stopped banging two plush toys together when she noticed her mother looking at her, grinning widely.

"Or so we thought you had taken them all," continued Sonic. "Really, we should be grateful you kept a couple back. Otherwise, G.U.N. and Eggman would have five of them now. I am, at least."

A faint smile appeared on Rouge's lips. She appreciated his gratefulness, though it came across as superficial. "I tried to explain, Sonic. I really did. But it just doesn't explain why I took them."

As if defeated, Rouge sat on the edge of the couch, motioning for her daughter to come to her.

"I never really wanted a relationship with Knuckles," Rouge continued, stroking Sapphire's hair as the toddler decided that her longer-than-her-arms sleeves would be her next thing to play with, "I mean, look at me. I wasn't cut out for all the mushy crap that goes along with being someone's girl. The whole thing was his idea, so I figured I'd humor him, and maybe find that I could be cut out for it. I wasn't. I was too independent."

Sonic listened intently, a little agitated at how nonchalantly she approached it, but quite interested in how she kept saying that she_ was_ independent, and how she _wasn't_ cut out for all the mushy crap.

"But with me being the jewel thief and all, I decided to take advantage of the situation and get the chaos emeralds for myself. Hell, I even took the master emerald. But, as you can clearly see, my little plan backfired."

As if on cue, Sapphire decided to look up at her mother, somehow knowing she had become the topic of the conversation.

"Yeah, you, you little brat," Rogue said, playfully messing up the young girl's hair. "Imagine my surprise when I knew I was pregnant with her. Let me tell you, there were some pretty intense moments of panic during that time. I was too far along to even think about abortion. I even thought about going back to Knuckles to tell him, but you know how that jerk can act if anyone touches his precious master emerald. I_took_ the damn thing, so you can imagine what he would've done if I came back with it along with news that he knocked me up. Who knows what could've happened."

Her face suddenly, and unusually, softened as her daughter turned and hugged her, still wearing her silly grin.

"I kept trying to fathom the idea of me having a kid. _Me_. Having a baby. I was doubtful I could do it. I'd never depended on anyone, and yet, I was about to take care of someone who would be totally dependent on me. I started becoming desperate, actually thinking of giving her up for adoption because I still second-guessed myself, but even then, I began to wonder what kind of daughter our genes would produce. Would she be a bat, an echidna, or some freakish-looking hybrid? Who would want to take care of some weird-looking kid?"

Rouge hugged her daughter back, leaving her arms wrapped around her, staring straight into her purple eyes that gleamed.

"But the moment I held her for the first time after she was born, I knew I couldn't give her up. I was amazed that something as beautiful as her could come from someone as ugly as me."

"No, you're not," Sonic said before he realized just how awkward it sounded. "What I mean, is…uh…you're not ugly. You're…aw, damn it."

A light chuckle escaped from Rouge. "I know what you meant, Sonic. Thanks."

The hedgehog, now wearing a muzzle of red, laughed nervously.

"I quickly found out that raising a kid is damned expensive. I needed money, as jewels and emeralds don't buy you the things you need to take care of a baby. That's when I contacted Eggman and arranged him to pay me if I brought him the emeralds."

Again, Sonic looked around the lavishly adorned room. "And paid you, he did."

"But I kept two back. Not because they're pretty, but because I know how Eggman is when he gets his hand on the chaos emeralds. I knew giving them to him in the first place was wrong, but I didn't know what else to do. I figured if I could keep the two that I have out of his hands, I'd eventually return them to Knuckles and then tell him the news. I…just haven't done it yet."

"But you returned the master emerald, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I know. I had the emeralds with me, too, ready to tell him everything. But when I saw him rustle in his sleep, grumbling, wearing that frown he always wears, I chickened out. I didn't want him to flip out at the sight of me and risk Sapphire getting hurt. I know I'll have to eventually. I'm just trying to decide when the best time is."

Everything made perfect sense to Sonic. He couldn't see why it wouldn't with Knuckles. She had, however, brought up a valid point at how angry the echidna cam become. It was like flipping a power switch with him, as the littlest thing could set him off in a tirade. Maybe she knew what she was doing.

Still, though, there was G.U.N.

"Rouge," Sonic asked, "How do you think G.U.N. knew you had the other two emeralds?"

Rouge sighed. "I'm not sure, Sonic. My only guess is that when they went to get the emeralds from him, and found only three, they must've figured I had the other four since they knew how I used to be when I worked for them."

The hedgehog was reluctant to ask if the agent had taken them from her, recalling how she went into a catatonic trance when he brought up G.U.N. the first time.

But he had to.

Silently, Rouge stood and walked over to her daughter's toys, picking up a small purple dragon-like creature. While still knelt, she removed a small stiletto from her shoe and cut open the toy, much to Sapphire's chagrin as she rushed over to stop her mom.

After a moment of searching within the white stuffing, her hand finally emerged holding the two missing chaos emeralds.

"That should answer your question."

It was a clichéd way of hiding the powerful gemstones, but it had worked, which left Sonic in a slight, awestruck state. He figured that that would've been one of the first places the G.U.N. agent would've looked in. Apparently, it must've been too obvious.

"As gullible as Eggman is, I figured I'd just bullshit him some more if he would've become suspicious at why I only had three emeralds instead of all five Knuckles was guarding."

Her eyes suddenly grew pernicious.

"So you can imagine my surprise when the G.U.N. soldier came knocking on my door."

Sonic could feel her stare envelop him like a virus as her nightmare gradually unveiled itself to him.

"After it happened, Sapphire and I just got the hell out of there. I know they'll be coming back now that they know I killed one of their men."

She looked over to a window, nervous.

"I just don't know when, or how many there'll be."

"Then come with me and help find Amy," Sonic said, trying to remain upbeat amongst her pessimism. "You'll be safe with us."

Rouge laughed lightly, amused at how Sonic thought she had become weak now that she was a mother. "I never said I wouldn't be able to handle them, Sonic. I've done it before, I can do it again."

"But…"

"Sonic, what shook me up more than anything from that attack was the fact that I took a man's life. Yes, it was in self-defense, but that doesn't change the way I feel about it. I took everything that man lived for. He may have had a family, a wife, and maybe a kid or two. I took all of that away."

She walked over and grabbed Sonic's hands, placing the emeralds in them and clasping his hands over them.

"Sonic, I've done enough damage."

"Rouge."

"G.U.N. headquarters is located in Washington, D.C., next to the FBI building. As long as the time span remained unchanged, then you'll use the security override command Zythos to disarm the laser sensors, as well as the retinal scanner to enter one of the data archives."

Unexpectedly, she leaned over and placed a small kiss on Sonic's cheek to show her gratitude.

"Thanks for believing in me, and for what it's worth, sorry for everything that's happened as a result of me. Now, go find her."

Sonic could only look at the one-time jewel thief and how much she had changed because of her having a child. While others had lost respect for her because of her actions, the hedgehog had quickly gained. He'd seen the regret painted on her face, as well as signs of a new beginning in her life.

"I will," he said, clutching the chaos emeralds, preparing to execute chaos control.

The hedgehog, having successfully executed chaos control to escape from death once before, had all but mastered the art as his fabricated brethren, Shadow, had done before. He could, when we wanted to, teleport himself to far away places by simply tapping into his will power and connect it with the power inside a chaos emerald.

But doing so took quite a bit of strength from him, leaving him half-exhausted as if he had run three consecutive marathons in record time.

But this time, it was worth it.

"I'll need to bring along Tails and Knuckles, as I'm sure I'll need some help once I'm there."

He raised one of the emeralds as Rouge, who had scooped up Sapphire, approached to bid him farewell.

"Chaos control."

But before he dissipated into the blinding light that began to surround him, he suddenly grabbed Rouge's arm.

"Sorry, Rouge, but I'm gonna need you, too."

* * *

Chapter 6 will be up, hopefully, before Christmas. Please R/R! 


	6. Chapter 6

Sonic and all other various Sonic The Hedgehog characters are Copyright SEGA, Sonic Team, TMS Entertainment, and all other associations affiliated with the Sonic X anime/manga. All other characters belong to their rightful owner (me) and have no similarities with above-said characters whatsoever. Names used for other characters are random. Any people bearing the real name, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

WHOOT...another update, and before Christmas, too. The next chapter could take a while, just to give you an update, as my work schedule is going to get really clogged, really soon. I'll try to squeeze time in at home, but even that's becoming scarce, it seems. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter, and have a great holiday and new year.

* * *

6

She stood over the hedgehog, her face a shade of white as bright as the encircling ball of energy that had teleported their courtesy of chaos control and a surprising action she never thought would be taken by the merciful assailant with other plans than originally conceded.

Scared again by the unfolding events, Sapphire began preparations for another crying session, her whimpers increasing in frequency and intensity, despite her mother's attempts to thwart them by rocking back and forth.

But even she couldn't help but feel the same bit of fear her daughter felt.

"Sonic, why?" she said, her eyes darting to and fro, investigating the thick forest that now surrounded them. "Why'd you bring us here? I thought it was clear that I didn't want to be involved."

She gruffly turned and walked a few feet away, letting Sapphire rest her head on her shoulder. Thankfully, she had calmed quicker than anticipated.

"I told you I had done enough."

Sonic, who had been bent over gasping for his breath to return after it had been taken from momentarily from the teleportation, slowly rose, leaning against a tree for support.

"Rouge, you and I both know that trying to get into G.U.N. headquarters is going to be impossible. What if the pass code you gave us didn't work? We'd be screwed, and Amy would be lost to us forever. I brought you because you worked for G.U.N. Surely, someone there would know that. You can get us in the front door. That's all I ask of you. The rest, I understand, and will let you do when you feel the time is right."

Rouge let go a curt laugh, but still kept her back turned.

"You don't get it, do you?" she said, coating her words with a sharp layer of sarcasm. "Those bastards tried to kill me, Sapphire, too. Why the _hell_ would I ever want to step foot in that Goddamned place ever again and pretend that everything is hunky-dory on my end of the spectrum? That's just stupid."

"Because I don't think G.U.N. is actually behind it."

Rouge quickly cast an icy sideways glance, not believing he could just assume that that was the case.

"Oh, so just because you came up with that theory, it must be true, right? Is that what you _really_ think, Sonic the Hedgehog? You honestly believe that G.U.N. is this saintly group of individuals out to protect what's right and true? Well, don't believe the hype, buddy-boy, because it's nothing but a big load of fresh bullshit."

She turned around, her face red with anger, and began approaching Sonic.

"They feed it to anyone gullible and willing enough to believe it just so they can pull the proverbial wool over their eyes and make them believe it's the security blanket of the nation they swore to defend. They hide shit you wouldn't believe from people. They have a lot of bad secrets, Sonic; a lot of them. And they do _anything_ they can to make sure those secrets stay put within their own little happy home. In fact, I think you already know about their biggest one."

Sonic raised an eyebrow. "ARK?"

"Bingo. I was told everything after things calmed down and the colony was zapped to a different spot thanks to you and Shadow. Apparently, some fifty odd years ago, G.U.N. infiltrated the colony because they didn't like how things were going. So, they went up to shut down the operation. Seems simple, doesn't it? Well, it wasn't. Their mission was to remove all aspects of the operation, which meant kill off all the doctors, the specimens, anyone involved."

Sonic remembered the cell he had been held in, which was the same thing Gerald Robotnik had been held in before being executed by the soldiers while chained to a chair.

"They didn't want to take a chance at anyone continuing the operation, so they even killed off all the soldiers assigned to the mission, and later covered up it by calling it 'an unfortunate incident.' So, you can imagine the hullabaloo when Eggman hacked their database and copied over all the data pertaining to the Shadow project. The shit had hit the fan, Sonic."

"But I thought a guerrilla group formed within the organization and tried to get rid of it once and for all."

"They did, and were arrested for it."

Sonic had become confused. "But, wasn't what that they…wanted?"

"That's what they wanted the _public_ to know. They arrested the group that wanted to put an end to it, so, obviously, G.U.N. wanted to keep it intact. Hence, my task to copy it all down to a disk and hand it over to them."

His mouth fell agape at what he was hearing.

"Me? I didn't ask any questions. I just gave them the disk, took my payment, and left. But that's what I'm telling you, Sonic. They carry with them many secrets."

Sonic knew Amy was in a lot more trouble than what he had originally thought. He had to find her, granted it wasn't too late already after hearing what Rouge had to say.

"Well, then that solidifies my reason for bringing you here," he said, hoping that perhaps she had also found the underlying reason, too.

"I don't think you understand, Sonic. I know too much. I know things that could bring down the whole organization in one fell swoop. Why continue to bribe me with jewels and shit when they can just remove me from the picture and just call it an 'unfortunate accident'?"

She had a valid point, but something about the way her apartment had been wrecked didn't sit well with Sonic. If a government organization really wanted to remove a threatening thorn in their side, they'd bring in a sharpshooter to snipe them with one clean shot.

The way they sacked her space looked to be an all-out attack fueled by desperation, what with the many holes that lined her walls, the overturned furniture, and the belongings scattered everywhere.

Still, though, despite Sonic's attempt to convince her otherwise by sharing the same information with her, she remained steadfast with her decision.

"I'm sorry, Sonic," Rouge said, retreating her look away from the determined hedgehog, "But me getting killed isn't going to help you guys out, and leaving Sapphire to grow up in this world alone isn't something I'm willing to risk for the sake of finding someone who may already be dead. I told you what you needed to know."

A slight tint of pink began glowing in Sonic's cheeks, as he had become irritated at the fact that another person, a teammate, an ally, had pretty much turned their back on him, on Amy.

"Sonic, you have to trust me on this. They couldn't figure out that Robotnik's granddaughter's name was the password entry into the Project Shadow stuff, why would they waste their time changing another password they think sounds cool?"

Sonic wanted to unleash his frustration on her, but held back, as he sort of understood her not wanting to risk being killed and leaving her daughter behind with no mother, and, apparently, no father; or at least a father who didn't know, and probably didn't want anything to do with her.

"Guess I'm alone on this, aren't I," he said sharply, aiming it right at Rouge's rising guilt. "I can't make you go. I just thought maybe you'd see through to helping someone out who refused to be like the others and keep their faith in you."

He noticed her bite her bottom lip. The comment found its mark and it hurt.

"Apparently, I was wrong."

He walked over and shook her hand, coldly.

"Thanks for the information. Take care of Sapphire."

"I will, Sonic," she said, her guilt causing her voice to shake a little. "Be careful."

For one last moment, Sonic stopped, turned, and gave her a resentful stare before running off toward the illuminated lights of Tails' lab, which shone just above the treetops.

* * *

Despite the howling wind that swept through the trees that led up to the two-tailed fox's lab that resembled something more of a hangar than anything else with the number of aeronautical vehicles he had parked here and there, a faint clanging of tools could be heard.

Hidden behind an open panel on a machine that bore resemblance to the one Chuck Thorndyke had built that returned he and his friends back to their world using artificial chaos control stemmed from energy released from the space colony ARK, Tails bent down and plucked a large wrench from his toolbox, his face covered in grease, dirt, and sweat.

Amidst the clanks of him finding the correct bolt to tighten, he grumbled about Sonic not paying attention to his advice about not trusting Rouge, since she had practically stabbed everyone in the back by stealing the emeralds, leading up to the horrific events that stole Amy from their team.

He kept going on about how he was going to get screwed again since all she cared about was her jewels and how many she could get her greedy hands on, using any means possible.

He began talking out loud just so he could hear his own frustration make sense to him.

"Of all people, you, Sonic, should see what kind of person she is. She'll just use you to try and take your emerald. She'll make a promise to you that'll make you think you'll find Amy, and then once you find out she was just leading you on a wild goose chase, she'll be long gone."

But the more he spoke, the more he became flustered and angry, conjuring up imagined scenarios that pushed the edges of reality.

"I wouldn't put it past that idiot to have arranged this whole thing just so she could find a way to get all of the emeralds to herself."

He began to try and tighten and already tightened bolt, which also began to test his boiling point as its resistance increased with each turn.

"Get G.U.N. to come in and take away Eggman and Amy with some bullshit story about how they were plotting to attack Chris' world by using the chaos emeralds as their weapon of choice, and then convince them to give the emeralds to her after she would feed them a line of crap about how she understood their power, making them believe that they would best be left in her hands."

The more he convinced himself that that was the plan she used, the angrier he got as his face turned beet red. He didn't even notice that the bolt he was trying to tighten had finally reached its point to where it would no longer turn.

That is, until his wrench slipped, causing him to smash his face into the side of the machine.

His bottled up anger that had been slowly releasing itself in small quantities suddenly erupted into a torrential flood of emotion. He turned and kicked his toolbox as hard as he could with an accompanying array of curse words that would make a sailor red with embarrassment, scattering his tools all over the floor with an ear-piercing chorus of metallic pings and pangs.

For a moment, Tails could only survey what he had done, cemented in his spot, breathing fast and hard as his temper begun to reset itself.

When the red had cleared from his vision, he noticed that one of the tools had careened directly into a picture of Sonic and him, shattering the glass.

The uncontrollable anger had suddenly turned into regret as he rushed over and picked up the picture, flicking away the stray bits of glass still stuck in what was left of the frame.

"Aw, hell, Miles," he whispered as he looked at his friend staring back at him, his thumb stuck up in the air to indicate that the present situation was just fine. "What are you doing? Why are you acting like this?"

He walked back over to the machine, still holding the picture as if hoping his apology to it would somehow find its way to the real person.

"Look at us, Sonic. Look at how we've become after Amy disappeared. We're all too wrapped up in how it happened because of Rouge instead of just trying to find her first, and assessing the blame later. We can't go on like this."

The hedgehog and his wordless optimism must've had some sort of effect on the two-tailed genius, as a faint smile began to grow, rejuvenating his faith.

"Maybe you know something we don't, Sonic. Man, I should've listened to you, pal, but I guess it's a little late, now."

His smile disappeared as quickly as it had arrived, but it didn't dent his faith too much.

"You must be pretty pissed off at me. But I swear I'll make it up to you. I'll find you and then go help you find her."

"Since when do you sit and talk to pictures all day, eh, buddy?" a voice echoed from the open door.

"S-Sonic?"

The hedgehog casually made his way into the lab, but lacking his normal swagger.

He whistled when he caught site of the large machine Tails had been working on before his tantrum.

"Impressive. What is it?"

"What is it?" Tails responded, laughing at his buddy's ignorance he hoped he was feigning. "It's a teleporter that can execute a controlled chaos control using only one chaos emerald."

"Really?"

Tails could sense Sonic's rising enthusiasm about the machine's capabilities. He knew he'd want to use it to go back to Chris' world to try and find Amy.

"It's complete. I just haven't tested it, yet."

He noticed the hedgehog staring intently at the machine, running his hand up and down the cool metal.

He looked troubled.

"Sonic, I'd been doing a lot of thinking lately, and you're right. We need to focus on finding Amy. We can deal with Rouge—"

"You were right, Tails," Sonic suddenly intervened.

"I was?"

"About Rouge. She does care only for herself."

Tails just stood there, unable to say anything. He wanted to give him the old 'I told you so', but decided not to. Instead, he simply offered an apologetic condolence.

"But it wasn't a total loss, though," Sonic continued. "She did tell me where the G.U.N. headquarters was at, as well as a password that will override the security parts."

Tails folded his arms.

"It's legit. That part, I can assure you. She also gave me these."

Tails' mouth fell open when Sonic pulled out the two emeralds she had kept hidden in Sapphire's toy.

"I suppose I shouldn't be too hard on her, you know. She's got her reasons for not being able to come with us to find Amy. A pretty damn good reason at that. I shouldn't have pushed the issue."

He, then, pulled out the picture of Sapphire, and handed it to his friend. Tails' eyes immediately widened after looking over the picture, focusing on the same thing Sonic had focused on when he had first come across it: the eyes.

Sonic explained the whole situation with Rouge, Knuckles, and the interaction between her and Eggman, which turned out to be a totally different scenario apart from the one that had unfolded weeks ago.

Tails didn't take it quite so good, noticing the scab that had formed on Sonic's wrist.

"My God," he said, walking over to a chair and gingerly sitting in it as if he suffered from a broken tail, or two. "Why didn't she just come to us and explain? I mean, we would've been skeptical at first, but we would've eventually understood."

"I know, Tails," Sonic agreed. "But she figured everyone hated her by then. She was scared because of what happened at her apartment, and I don't really blame her."

"Apparently so," Tails added, staring at Sonic's wrist, still. "Guess that explains why I couldn't get a signal."

"It's a wonder I'm still here, you know. She can still pack a punch despite her having a kid and all."

"So does Knuckles, you know, know about it?"

His friend shook his head. "He'll find out soon, though. She'll go to him when she thinks the time is right."

"Do you think he'll help us?"

"Don't know. He flipped out on me at first, but I'm wondering if maybe he'll see things the other way if I can explain to him that the focus is on finding Amy and nothing else. He might reconsider, but you know how he is when he's all pissed off. Either way, we're going to need all the help we can get if Rouge is right about G.U.N."

"I can contact Cream if we need her."

Sonic wrinkled his mouth at the mention of the seemingly fragile rabbit, who was now fifteen and ever so independent. She had a way of fighting with her Chao, Cheese, but it was marginal at best. There'd be no way she would be able to handle a plethora of G.U.N. soldiers armed to the gill with rifles and other assorted weapons.

"I don't know, Tails. She's a good fighter and all, but can she—-?"

He noticed Tails staring toward the door.

"Tails?"

Sonic instinctively looked over and saw Rouge standing at the door, holding her daughter, who was still fast asleep.

* * *

Oooo...tension is in the air. Please R/R, and, as always, thanks for reading!

* * *


	7. Chapter 7

Sonic and all other various Sonic The Hedgehog characters are Copyright SEGA, Sonic Team, TMS Entertainment, and all other associations affiliated with the Sonic X anime/manga. All other characters belong to their rightful owner (me) and have no similarities with above-said characters whatsoever. Names used for other characters are random. Any people bearing the real name, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Look at this! Another update within a month! Seriously, I hope everyone had a good holiday and equally good new year.

* * *

7

"That won't be necessary, Sonic," Rouge said as she reluctantly made her way into the lab, trying not to stare at Tails, who was staring at her with mixed thoughts.

She seemed to read them like a book.

"I know what you're thinking, Tails," she said, casting her gaze upon the teleporter. "And, honestly, I don't blame you one bit. I did do a lot of crappy things, but I'm hoping you believe me when I say that I'm here to help you guys find Amy and –"

"Rouge, Sonic already explained everything to me," Tails interrupted, shuffling his foot as his regret for believing in his own initial accusations began to surface.

"Oh. He did?"

"Just like he said, you had your reasons. I'm not thrilled that you took them, but there's not much we can do about that now. We're here to find Amy, and Sonic said you gave him some information that'll get us to what we need."

Rouge felt the fox's strict, business-like demeanor cascade over her like a shadow. There was no sense in trying to set things right with him. Sonic had, indeed, explained her tales of woe and dismay that had snowballed from the time she had taken the emeralds, but it seemed to not really have much of an effect on his attitude toward her.

He was, at least, civil with her, which was a start.

"You're right. So, for what it's worth, I'm sorry."

What she didn't expect was the same apology shot back at her. She wondered what it was he needed to be sorry for, as it wasn't he who stole the emeralds that led to Amy and Eggman's kidnapping, and the attempt to end both her and her daughter's life at the hands of a G.U.N. agent, or so it appeared, anyway.

She, again, focused her gaze upon the fairly large machine, her thoughts swimming around with reasons for his apology. Maybe Sonic had made him see the real reasons for her theft. Maybe he saw the regret she wore on her face along with her makeup.

Maybe it was the appearance of Sapphire.

"Tails, can you hold her for a moment?" she said, handing her sleeping daughter to the unsuspecting fox. "My shoulder is aching something fierce. She's not as light as she used to be."

As if holding a priceless vase, Tails gently held the toddler in his outstretched arms, unsure of what to do next, and unable to move, fearing that a bad move would break the child into a million pieces.

"So, Sapphire, huh?" Tails said nervously with a wry smile. The little hybrid wasn't as heavy as the former jewel thief had let on, but decided not to say anything at the moment. "I never expected this to happen, Rouge."

"Neither did I," she nonchalantly replied, her focus reverted back to the machine. "This looks familiar."

"It's a model based off the of machine Chuck built that sent us back home. It was also the same one Chris used to get here."

A small, unnoticed smile crept across Rouge's face as she knew she had just opened the flood gates that had kept Tails' dorky side in check (Tails' would vehemently defend it to be called technical knowledge). That was one way to win his trust: be interested in his technical creations.

"I built it so that it could execute a controlled chaos control by using one emerald," he continued, beaming with pride. "The only downside is that by using only one emerald, the exact placement of where the teleportation would put us would be kind of off. But now that we have four here (Tails', Sonic's, and the two Rouge had kept behind for herself), I can make some adjustments that'll allow the machine to put us just about anywhere we want."

"Impressive," Rouge said, actually showing some interest.

"Heck, I can even make it put us right in the middle of G.U.N. headquarters if we want."

"I don't think that would be a good idea, kiddo."

Tails raised an eyebrow, confused. Wasn't that the place they needed to go to?

"I know it's hard to do, but just trust me on this. I'll explain after I put Sapphy down for the night."

She plucked her daughter out of Tails' hands, which were still outstretched, and disappeared into the other room after having been promised a couch to serve as a temporary bed.

The timing couldn't have been any better, for in what turned out to be a remarkably strange sequence of coincidence, Knuckles came bursting through the front door.

"Tails!" he yelled as he blew past Sonic on his way to the small fox. His breaths were long, as he had run as fast as he could from the floating island. "What in the world is going on? The master emerald started acting all wacky, and then I saw a strange ball of light over by here. I could swear it looked like chaos --"

As if feeling he was being watched, Knuckles glanced to his left and noticed the blue hedgehog, who gave him a curt smile and a small wave of his hand. It didn't amuse the echidna.

"Hm. Somehow, I figured _you_ were behind it."

Irritated at seeing the hedgehog after he had warned him not to return, he looked away, toward a table, and noticed the two emeralds that had been taken from him.

"I see you found that conniving witch," he growled, but wondering why Sonic had them and not him.

"Yeah, and she was the one that gave me those emeralds," Sonic said sharply. He wanted to just tell him everything, and show him his daughter he didn't know yet, but held back. He wanted Knuckles to admit things he was wrong about, just like Tails.

"Oh, she did, did she?" he said gruffly, but with a slightly softer face, giving the hedgehog more than enough indication that perhaps he had hastily passed judgment. "Guess that explains why the master emerald went all nuts on me. It was reacting. But that still doesn't make it right what she did."

"We know, Knuckles," Sonic said, waving his hands in frustration. "I've heard it already. But if she were as evil as you went on and on about, why would she give me the emeralds back? Yes, I saw her. I talked to her. I found out many things, Knuckles; things that'll make you think a lot. She really is regretful for what happened. I saw it with my own eyes, and heard it with these two ears. Maybe if you heard it, you'd maybe see through to forgiving her."

"Forgive her? Forgive her? Are you serious, Sonic? I'm supposed to just forget the fact that she used me and forgive her? I can't believe what I'm hearing! I'll _never_ forgive that whore for what she did to me, to you, to us, and to Amy."

Sonic folded his arms, trying to keep his anger in check. "Damn it, Knuckles, are you just that stupid? Yes, she took the emeralds. We all know that, we don't need to hear it again. But had she not kept two back, G.U.N. would now have five of the seven instead of just three. She flat out told me that she knew how Eggman was, and decided to keep two back. Maybe she was pulling a fast one on me to make me believe that her intentions were good, maybe not. Who knows? Regardless, she was attacked by G.U.N., as they were after them for some reason. She hid them and was able to get away."

"He's right, Knuckles," Rouge said, emerging from the shadows of the doorway. She had obviously heard everything.

Her voice made the echidna cast an intensely evil glare over to her as his memories began to race in his mind. She still looked as good as ever, despite her intricate personality that leaned more toward villainous than it did heroic. His heart began to thump harder as she cautiously approached, bordering tearing in two.

"Before you go off on me, please hear me out. I know you've already been told that I've regretted what I've done, and I have. I won't bore you with my sob story, as that's not why I'm here, nor why Sonic brought me here. I'm only here to help find Amy and that's it."

She unexpectedly reached down and clasped one of the echidna's hands, hoping to maybe rekindle their connection she failed to do so before.

Apparently, the feeling wasn't mutual, as he quickly jerked his hand away. "Don't you dare touch me, you piece of shit," he scoffed icily. "You've got a lot of nerve showing your face around here again. I was about to tell Sonic, here, that I was going to help him find Amy, but if you're going, then count me out because in the end, you'll just use everyone else just like you used me and Amy will be the one that'll die because of it."

Rouge clinched her fist that Knuckles had jerked his hand away from, her face beginning to redden. "That's not true, and you know it. Look, I may have done some shit to you that I regret doing, but I'm not about to put Amy in any more danger than what she's already in. This is about her, not you, nor Sonic, or anyone else. After we find her, then we can all go back to hating my guts. I deserve it, I guess."

"You're damn right, you deserve it, you bit—"

"Knuckles, will you just knock it off already?" Sonic griped, poking his finger into the echidna's white crescent birthmark.

"No, I won't! You're not the one she made a phony pact of love with! I trusted her with my soul, and she just flicked it aside like an unwanted piece of shit!"

"That's not true!" Rouge exclaimed. "I wasn't ready for anything like that, and you know it!"

The argument raged on and on about who was innocent and who wasn't, each side trying desperately to have their case heard. Obscenities were plentiful as the volume began increasing until Tails, who had sat with his arms folded for much of the volatile debate, decided that he had heard enough.

"ALL OF YOU SHUT UP!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, immediately silencing the room. "My God, can you even freakin' hear yourselves?! You're all too wrapped up in what Rouge did, which has zero relevance to why Amy and Eggman was kidnapped! G.U.N. was after the emeralds and they happened to have found them with the damned doctor. If they wouldn't have found them there, they would've eventually figured out that you would've had them, Knuckles, and would've gone after you! They wouldn't have stopped until they had them, I bet."

The three began to sheepishly look at each other as Tails continued his argument.

"The bottom line is that Amy is missing, and we need to get back to the other dimension and find her before something bad happens! Bitching back and forth is getting nothing done, and only making things worse! So shut the hell up and let's get back to the real reason we're all here, okay? After we find her, you can all bitch at each for as long and as loud as you want! Damn!"

With that, he flopped back down on the couch and punched the cushion. Sonic, Knuckles, and Rouge all looked at the fox, unable to say anything as his flood of anger was right on the money. They looked at each other for a moment, allowing their silent apologies to take root.

The proverbial pin could've been dropped and its high-noted clink would've actually echoed against the walls from silence that hung in the room like a morning fog upon a sullen lake. Slowly, and one by one, the vehement debaters retreated to a table adorned with small stools and blueprints to the teleportation machine.

However, the uncomfortable silence that had stolen everyone's voices was quickly broken with the appearance of Sapphire at the doorway, yawning and asking for her mother.

It didn't take long for Knuckles to notice the small child, her wild hair, and more importantly, the dazzling purple eyes that met his.

"M-mommy?" stammered the echidna, his wide eyes of the same amethyst purple trying to convey the truth that would not take its stare away from him. "Rouge, is that--?"

"Sapphire," Rouge said, deflated. The time for secrets to be revealed had come, and there wasn't a time any more awkward than then. "She's my daughter."

And then, the bombshell finally came that caused the echidna to fall from his stool.

"Yours, too."

At first, he viciously denied the toddler being of his noble blood. He scooted on his rear end to try and get, but found the wall instead, still determined to convince himself that the little girl that now retreated a little behind the door could never be of his flesh and blood.

"No, it can't be!" he cried, burying his head in his hands. "It can't be!"

"Knuckles," Rouge said, remaining consolingly distant. "It is true. It happened on the one night you and I shared together before I, well, you know, took off."

"It's impossible! You and I can't—it's just impossible!"

"Apparently, it's not. Look, I was equally surprised, too. But she's here and there's nothing that can be done now. I figured this would happen, which is why I didn't want to spring such news on you. I've done a fair job of raising her myself, and I'll continue to do so if that's to happen."

Slowly, Knuckles looked above his gloved hands at his daughter, who had reemerged and was reluctantly making her way over to Rouge. There was no denying that she was of echidnae blood, as her hair and broad shoulders showed, but the obvious sign that she was of Knuckles' blood were the eyes once again.

The truth finally began to set in.

He recalled how good he had felt when Rouge agreed that perhaps a closer relationship was worth giving a shot, despite that Rouge had simply used that promise as a springboard to jump on all the possibilities that she knew would surely come her way. Sure, he was dumbstruck, but love does that sometimes. His love was genuine, while hers was just a ruse.

But in spite of all the uncertainties, he remembered that he had begun to paint a picture of their future together only after a few days.

That future included a child of their own, though the possibility of that happening was slim since alternate species procreating was unheard of. Well, perhaps to you and me, but in their dimension, it was possible, but there were risks.

However, those risks seemed to have evaded Sapphire, as she appeared quite healthy in Knuckles' eyes. He was in awe of what he and Rouge had created.

"Knuckles?" asked Rouge, finally getting the nerve to approach him after he had seemed to settle down.

But he paid no attention. Instead, he began asking questions to himself that he wanted to ask Rouge, like why he wasn't told about it, and why she just didn't come to him if she needed help.

He remembered her letter, too. He had ignored her explanation, though it missed vital parts that would've made it much more sensible than it did, thinking it was just another ploy. Now, it made sense to him, just as it did to Sonic after he had seen the proof.

"Knuckles?" she asked again, snapping her fingers by the echidna's head. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he said, his usual gruff tone now soft.

Rouge backed away a couple of steps, unsure of how he was going to react.

"I guess there's no denying the truth. That little girl is our daughter. She is of my flesh and blood."

Rouge blinked and grit her teeth, casting an awkward stare to Sonic as if to say 'didn't I just say all that?'

"My ancestors raised me to uphold all responsibilities that fall before me. Obviously, one was to guard the master emerald and preserve its mysteries."

"The other?" asked Rouge, choking back a snicker at how serious his tone had become.

"There is no other, but if one should find its way to me, then I must honor it. Sapphire, is it?"

Rouge nodded, quickly losing her sarcastic expression on her face.

"She is my responsibility, and I will make sure that she knows who her father is."

Without warning, he reached up and grabbed Rouge's hand. Not in a manner that seemed threatening, either. She gasped, but didn't panic.

"And as for you, I do hope you can find it in your heart to forgive this ignorant echidna and all that he said. I admit that I said some pretty vicious things, but I was just angry and stupid. I guess I was more hurt than anything. I honestly thought you loved me, but I was wrong."

The comment struck deep in Rouge's soul, as she swallowed hard.

"I won't blame you if you want to leave once we find Amy. But I will promise to you that I will help you raise Sapphire, as she's my responsibility, too."

"Well," Rouge said, not sure of just how to respond to such a wordy apology and confession that reeked of corniness. "First off, let me say that I really am sorry for swiping the emeralds from you. And I'm sorry that I gave you the wrong impression that I wanted a relationship with you. I did tell you the truth. I wasn't ready for anything like that because, believe it or not, I'd never been in anything like that before."

Knuckles, again, looked down at the floor, hurt, defeated.

"But, that's not saying that I'm willing to try. Having Sapphire really changed me, Knuxy. She's made me see things in ways I've never even wanted to see before. I guess you could say I've turned over a new leaf."

Sapphire, having seen the two who had been bickering with one another back down to a more civil level decided to go to her mother, but certainly keep her stare on the red man that looked frighteningly similar to her.

"Hey there, squirt," Rouge said after feeling one of her legs get wrapped up by the toddler's arms. A little sense of relief washed over her like warm bathwater, as she wasn't sure where their new conversation was leading. "I want you to meet someone."

"Hey there, kiddo," Knuckles said, trying to be presentable and not intimidating.

Sapphire looked up at her mother, then pointed to the echidna and said, "Da?"

Sonic and others could almost see Knuckles swell with pride as Sapphire reluctantly approached him, then grabbed one of his dreadlocks and giggled.

As touching as the situation turned out to be, Sonic knew that work had to be done. Time was of the utmost factor now, so he, with a respectful clearing of his throat, took over the floor.

"Well, now that we're all on a civil level again," he said with a wry smirk and a rejuvenated sense of hope, "I say we get ready to for G.U.N. headquarters."

It was unanimously agreed upon.

* * *

Tails contacted Cream and explained what had transpired over the course of two weeks in a matter of minutes that eventually led to her being asked to watch over Sapphire while they would be gone. 

Expectedly, the mere mention of Rouge having a daughter was met with the same skepticism, as well as quite the screech over the communicator, temporarily deafening him.

The time to finally find either Amy herself, or at least a place where she had been taken to had come. The necessary adjustments were made, and three chaos emeralds were placed into their respective chambers, which were all connected to the main core of the machine. Upon powering it up, the core would tap into each emerald's power source and allow Sonic to pinpoint where his chaos control command would place them.

The X-Tornado had been set to mecha form and placed onto the center of the staging area where the others stood, except for Rouge, who was instructing Cream on all the intricate details of handling a toddler.

The once delicate rabbit, now fifteen, hadn't changed much in the way of appearance other than gaining some height. Her behavior didn't seem to have altered much with her teenage years, either, as the site of Sapphire when she had arrived was met with the stereotypical 'how adorable!' greeting usually saved for superficial things such as plush toys, dolls, and kittens. But, it was appreciated, as it did seem genuine enough.

"Don't worry about us," Cream advised, keeping a firm grip on Sapphire who had begun to squirm around sensing that her mother and father was about to leave her with a total stranger. "We'll be fine. I imagine she'll be asleep in no time after you're gone."

Her smile seemed to dissipate a little as Sapphire began flapping her small wings to try and free herself, testing Cream's patience.

Rouge felt helpless as Tails was making the final preparations for Sonic. She didn't like leaving her daughter behind, though she trusted Cream intently. She put her hands in the pocket of her hooded sweatshirt and immediately felt something soft.

She pulled it out and realized that she had stuffed the purple dragon that had contained the two hidden chaos emeralds there, with intentions to repair it.

"Sapphire," Rouge said, walking over to her daughter, waving the flimsy toy devoid of most of its stuffing. "Here ya go."

Immediately, Sapphire grabbed the toy with a short look of confusion, as if wondering where all its white guts went, but quickly discarded it with a massive hug that made a little more stuffing fall out.

She was, at least, calm now.

"Rouge?" Tails asked from the cockpit of the X-Tornado. "You never did explain why you didn't want us to emerge inside the headquarters."

"Remember the video cameras that had the lasers mounted on them in Area 99?" she replied, which garnered a confused nod from the fox pilot.

"G.U.N. learned from their first mistake and installed motion sensors adorned with the same lasers that are impenetrable to your little paper airplane artillery. We pop up in the middle of a hallway; we all end up looking like Swiss cheese because they'll be firing as soon as we emerge."

Tails' eyes were wide with fear and a little bit of respect. "Oh, guess that's a pretty good reason, then."

"Okay, enough of the chatter," Sonic instructed, his attitude more business-like than ever now that Amy was close to being found. "Tails, are we ready to go?"

"Roger, Sonic," Tails said with a thumbs up. "Everything is showing green. I've got the coordinates that'll place us inside a small park about two blocks east of the south entrance. The time will be approximately two A.M. according to my calculations."

"Okay, gang. The sun will be up around six in the morning their time. We've got four hours to either find Amy, or find anything that'll lead us to her. I know she's here. She's counting on all of us."

Everyone nodded, their hopes swelling where they had once been nonexistent. They _knew_ they were going to find her. There was no doubt about it.

And when Sonic spoke the command that executed chaos control, the familiar ball of light grew around them all, enveloping the entire machine as it kicked into gear, controlling the dimensional warp to only within the boundaries of the staging area.

And then, they were gone.

* * *

Finally, getting to the good stuff. Quite a fair amount of backstory, eh? Well, it's just about over with now. Please take time out to R/R. Many thanks to everyone who had read and reviewed this story. Chapter 8 will be up soon. 


	8. Chapter 8

Sonic and all other various Sonic The Hedgehog characters are Copyright SEGA, Sonic Team, TMS Entertainment, and all other associations affiliated with the Sonic X anime/manga. All other characters belong to their rightful owner (me) and have no similarities with above-said characters whatsoever. Names used for other characters are random. Any people bearing the real name, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

* * *

WHOOT, another update! I realized that I had made a serious error in the last chapter, so I tried to make up for it in this one...but I'm not telling what that error was:P

Anwyay, this is a very long chapter, but a very informational and pivotal one for the entire story. I hope you enjoy it, and again, thank you for taking time out to read it. Feel free to review it and let me know if it you like it, or think it sucks to high heaven.

* * *

8

Perhaps it had been the rejuvenation of hopes that had fallen down into a gloomy dungeon somewhere buried beneath their souls, or maybe it was an undefined eagerness to race against an unknown span of time. Nonetheless, upon emerging within the small park, courtesy of the bright illumination cast forth by Sonic, the team immediately knew that there were some serious flaws in their plan. The biggest being that was really no plan at all.

They all looked at each other, trying to conjure up any believable alibi, but couldn't. They simply acted upon their newfound hope.

"Well, the machine worked," Sonic said rather sheepishly, but showing no signs of ill fatigue from casting the chaos control command.

If there was to be anything positive about the hastily rushed decision to go ahead and make the jump to the other dimension, it was that, sort of. But all wasn't lost. Rouge knew the building inside and out from having worked there, as well as doing a little snooping around just to keep her thieving skills sharp, so the lack of maps to the G.U.N. headquarters wasn't really a back-breaker. Weaponry was hardly ever used since they all knew their own unique forms of combat quite well, but if things got a little too far out of control, the X-Tornado was well equipped with enough artillery to bust them out of just about any jam.

They'd be acting upon a whim, but that was just fine to Sonic, as that was his style.

Knuckles, however, disagreed.

"I don't like this," he grumbled, folding his arms as he always did when he wasn't amused with something, which was just about everything of late. "If we get caught, Amy will surely perish."

"Will you relax, Knucklehead?" Sonic humorously scoffed. "We've gone out on a limb before with no real plan, and everything's come out okay, what makes this any different? Besides, it's me."

With a wink, the hedgehog darted over to a tree and peered around it while Knuckles grumbled about recklessness, attitude, and not being called by such a derogatory name.

Tails, who had been sitting in the cockpit of his jet, tapping his finger on his chin in deep thought, decided to add in little dilemma that had been overlooked.

"Sonic," he asked, reluctant to burst the hedgehog's hopeful bubble, "How are we supposed to get home?"

"Oh, it's easy," he said, taking in the surroundings, as if guessing what year it was by way of the makeup of the nearby buildings, and night owls that meandered along the street. "We just—"

He suddenly turned and faced his vulpine friend.

"Damn it. We can't, can we."

Tails shook his head.

"We used the emeralds so that the machine would teleport us to this spot. All of them."

"You mean we're stuck in the Godforsaken place _again_?" growled Knuckles, gesturing to the trees and metal fence that surrounded them. "Oh, that's just flippin' wonderful, Sonic the Retard."

"All right, all right," Sonic said, rubbing his temples, trying to drum up a quick solution to the growing situation. "Let's not get all bent out of shape. Let me think for a moment."

After silently scolding himself for not taking time out to thoroughly think things through, he began focusing on other means of establishing chaos control without the use of chaos emeralds. He'd teleported before using a fake emerald Tails had made for him, but in performing the task; he wiped out nearly all of his energy. Trying to teleport not only himself, but also everyone else (not to mention a large jet) would likely kill him.

He looked down upon the ground, determined. If it meant bringing back Amy alive and well, it was worth the risk.

But before he could announce his intentions, Tails beat him to the punch by mentioning a visit to Station Square once their business with the G.U.N. headquarters had ended, and how it would be cool to see Chris again.

Chris, Sonic said to himself as he looked at Tails. Chris Thorndyke.

A quick flash of the machine Chris' grandfather had built raced through his thoughts.

"That's it!" he yelped as the proverbial light switch turned on, startling everyone.

"What's it?" asked Tails.

"We can use Chris' machine to get back home. He somehow created a link to the master emerald using it, and was able to transport himself there. It's got to work!"

Everyone agreed, including Knuckles before slandering it with ancient echidna rules about how it shouldn't be used for such obscene uses.

A chorus of requests of shutting up quickly silenced him.

I just hope G.U.N. didn't take it from you, buddy, Sonic mused as he looked upon the others as they murmured makings of a plan to infiltrate the base.

Again, Sonic, as well as the others this time, perched themselves behind a large tree, hidden by the shadows of its surroundings.

"From what I can tell, the time span doesn't look to be too far off," Sonic said, looking over the same buildings again, but with a clearer mindset. "Okay, the coast is clear. Let's go."

Stealthily, the team skittered across the street to an adjacent alleyway, dark with the shadows of the night, leaving the X-Tornado back in the park, hidden well within the trees. Again, Sonic peered out toward the buildings to try and guess what year they were in.

Though aged with their own bit of history, they didn't seem to look very different than they did in pictures they had seen on television and in books while staying in Chris' house, except for Rouge.

"What do you think, Rouge?" asked Sonic, eyeing a couple that slowly walked by that, thankfully, were interested in only their own affairs.

"Same year as ours," she responded quickly.

"Really? How do you know?"

He, along with the others who were also curious about her quick and oddly specific reply turned and noticed her looking at a newspaper she had picked up from the ground.

It was true, as the date just above the headline bearing news of an assassination upon a nation's leader told the truth.

"Weird," Tails said, "I wonder how?"

"Probably because the multiple chaos controls Sonic cast disrupted everything to the point where time stopped here, remember?" Grumbled Knuckles. "Thanks to Chuck and Tails, we were able to get out of here before anything worse happened. So, time probably returned to normal here, but our own timeline had restarted at the same time we returned. Hence, the similarity."

For someone who constantly moaned about everything, not really understanding the concepts of logic at times, his remark seemed to be right on the money.

"Yeah," Tails said, a little dejected that he hadn't thought of it sooner. "Makes sense to me."

"Then we're in," Rouge said, tossing the paper aside. "The security override command should work just fine. Plus, everyone I worked with should still be here."

But before she could nonchalantly make her way out of the shadows, Sonic stopped her.

"Still, though," he warned with a stern face. "If we get noticed, we'll get mobbed like we did before and we'll never get there. Yes, I know it's about three in the morning, but you know how humans are nowadays. They're up all night."

Rouge snickered.

Sonic's face went red. "That's not what I meant!"

"I know, I know," she laughed. "Anyway, we all can't be there at the entrance because there'll be about two or three cameras there, as well as a big floodlight. Once I get in, I'll deactivate the cameras and get the light turned off. Then, if you're nice to me, I might open the door for you."

She peered around the corner of the building, toward the objective, and noticed that the headquarters seemed unusually dark.

"Well that's strange."

"What's strange?" Sonic asked; looking at the same location Rouge was.

"Looks like maybe the light's burnt out. We can probably get a real good look now."

But as the group managed to make their way closer and closer to the building, an uneasy feeling began bubbling in Rouge's stomach. Something wasn't right. Nothing out of the ordinary remains unchecked for a long period of time, no matter how trivial the situation is; such as a burnt out light bulb that illuminates an entry into the facility.

They had spent several minutes simply approaching the dark building, but not one soul had ventured out to replace the bulb.

When they eventually arrived at the south entrance, the same uneasy feeling Rouge had felt now became mutual, as there was not a single camera to be found. The keypad used to access the building was also missing.

"I don't get it," Rouge murmured, unable to explain the scene before her. "It's like they up and moved or something."

She grasped the handle to the door, waiting for the alarms to sound, but there were none. Leary of what was waiting behind the door, she gently turned it, and the door, surprisingly, opened.

Immediately, the four jumped to either side of the entrance as the door lazily swung outwards.

"Rouge, what's going on?" Sonic whispered.

Rouge, with an equal look of both surprise and confusion, could only shrug her shoulders.

"Enough of this!" snapped Knuckles, hastily storming in and loudly asking if anyone was home.

"What the hell is he doing?" spat Sonic in a loud whisper. "That fool's going to wake the whole block up!"

The rest of the team piled into the entrance and quickly shut the door behind them.

Though disgusted at the clamor the echidna was creating, he was right in that the building was vacant, at least the floor they were on seemed that way. Gone were the partitions that separated offices, as well as all indications of security: cameras, keypad entrances, everything.

"I don't know what's going on, but we'll need to split up and make sure everything is actually gone," Rouge said, still eyeing her surroundings. "This is a fairly large building, so it'll take some time."

"How about we meet back here in two hours?" Sonic suggested. "That should give us plenty of time to scour the building."

Everyone, including Knuckles, seemed to agree that that was the best option, until Sonic divided the two teams: He and Tails, and Knuckles and Rouge.

* * *

With the flip of a switch, the entire floor burst into view, revealing nothing but plastered beams and outlines of desks and cubicle partitions that had preserved small strips of the blue-gray carpeting where the rest had faded with age and abuse. 

Rouge and Knuckles ventured out into the open room, surveying the area for any sign whatsoever that could explain why one of the more dominant government organizations suddenly vanished without so much as an explanation written on a memo and stuck to a door somewhere.

But there was nothing to be found. The area had been carefully, and extensively swept clean of all evidence that the Guardian Units of Nations had ever existed.

Rouge knew Sonic would be crushed, as the vacated building seemed to be the last best hope he was clinging to in regards to finding out where Amy had been taken. All seemed to be lost, as even her friend she had come to know through working as an agent for the said organization was probably long gone, having been terminated as a result of the supposed removal.

A part of her figured it was high time to simply give in to the inevitable truth that had been pestering not only her mind, but everyone else's, for so long. It was certainly understandable that it had been vehemently denied, but once all the options had been exhausted, there was no sense it doing so anymore.

Amy was gone.

However, she, again, shook off such an abysmal notion, relegating her thoughts to her initial confrontation with Knuckles long after their affair had ended in a sour note and an unexpected surprise.

She looked over to the echidna, who stared at a nearby wall with his arms folded, as always. She couldn't quite make out what he was saying, but it was something about how things had turned out unfairly for him.

She was reluctant to approach him, but decided to anyway since her other thought was just too depressing.

"So, Knuxy," she said, casually walking up beside him, "What do you think?"

"What do I think?" he replied, tightening his arms in obvious frustration he was trying to hide. "I think we're wasting our time. That's what _I_ think."

"Okay. But that's not what I meant. I meant what do you think about us?"

He cast a sharp state in her direction. "Us?"

"Yeah. I mean, we were all feeling all sorry for ourselves just a while back, and you said—"

"I know what I said. I don't need it repeated back to me."

His gruff tone was starting to get on her nerves.

"What the hell's your problem, Knuckles? A while ago, you were all apologetic and wanting to fix things, trying to sound all chivalrous with your words and shit."

"I meant what I said when I said I was sorry about saying all the things I said about you. But as for you and me trying to start over again. I don't know. What you did was pretty shitty."

Rouge let go a curt, crestfallen laugh.

"I don't get this, Knuckles. I thought we were just going to let bygones be bygones. Let the past die and focus more on our future."

It was apparent that the echidna wasn't ready to let go of the past.

"There is no 'our future', Rouge," he said flatly. "When I said that I would take responsibility for Sapphire, I meant it. That little girl is probably all the future I have now, and even she wasn't even supposed to be here. But she is, so I'll do what's right."

His words felt like a thousand needles, each tipped with a poison that seemed to suck the life out of her. She couldn't believe what she was hearing, which was a total about-face compared to his demeanor in front of his friends.

"Do what's right?" she hissed. "Boy, now isn't that the pot calling the kettle black or what?"

"Oh, what the hell ever!" Knuckles replied sharply, turning and jabbing a finger close to her face. "You're one to talk about responsibility. You could've just come to me once you found out you were pregnant, but no, you ran away. I admit, I probably would've been pissed at first, mainly over you taking the emeralds, but I would've eventually understood and would've worked to make things right. But by you running away from it, I figured you just didn't want anything to do with me anymore. So don't you stand there and bitch to me about responsibilities!"

"Screw you, Knuckles!" Rouge scoffed, ignoring the tear that had formed within her eye, threatening to show itself on her cheek. "I was scared because I'd never been in this position before! The last thing I needed was to get knocked up by the likes of you, but it happened. I didn't want Sapphire, but she's here and I wouldn't change it for nothing! I wanted to come back and tell you, but I figured you would just act like this and not give a shit for anything but your stupid master emerald. You don't know what I've been through, Knuckles. It's been like living in a hell running here and there, trying to raise Sapphire and stay out of trouble, which found me and tried to kill us."

Knuckles' reaction suddenly turned remotely softer.

"That's right. G.U.N. found me and tried to take me out. I lived through it, but I'm constantly looking over my shoulder, wondering when they're going to strike next. Every day, I just stay in the shadows and try to figure out where we can run to next so we can be a step ahead of them. I fear that sooner or later, I'll run out of places to run to."

The echidna began sheepishly looking down at the floor as Rouge continued her tale of how Sonic had come to her despite everyone else's skepticism. He had believed in her when no one else did, which led her to being where she was right now, though after allowing her emotions to come forth, having been egged on by Knuckles' stubbornness, she thought perhaps it was better that she had remained behind as she had originally planned.

"I thought you really meant what you said," she continued, deciding that she didn't even want to look at him anymore. "But I guess I was wrong about that, too."

"Rouge, I did mean it," Knuckles said, having forgotten how cordial he had been before he had time to think during the trek. "Look, I'm just all confused right now. There's so much happening right now, that I don't know what's up or down, left or right. Hell, I don't know if I'm coming or going half of the time."

He pretentiously, but cautiously, walked over and tried to put his hand on her shoulder.

"I told you that I'd be there to help with Sapphire, and I mean it. I will."

She jerked her shoulder away, coldly.

"Fine, whatever. Let's just go and find Amy so we can all get back to wonderfully fucking beautiful lives, okay?"

Knuckles' lip curled with guilt and frustration as he watched her walk toward the doorway that led to the adjoining stairwell. He was just as confused as she was with everything. Never had he been in such an awkward situation, and it drove him batty for not knowing how to deal with it.

But before she made it to the door, Sonic and Tails suddenly walked in, both wearing stern faces.

"All right, what's going on in here?" he grumbled. "We could hear you two going at it right through the floor as if you were standing right next to us. You two trying to wake the dead or what?"

His demeanor quickly changed, though, once he noticed the remnants of the tear that had meandered down Rouge's cheek, hastily wiped away without a care.

"Rouge?"

"Everything's fine, Sonic," she said sharply. "We're just fine. There's nothing here, so let's just go."

Sonic looked over at Knuckles, who simply sighed and turned his back on them all.

"The, uh, other floor seems to be empty, too," Tails reported, understandably confused as to what had happened as well. "Now what?"

For a moment, Sonic tried to make sense of what could've been said between Rouge and Knuckles that made them act so cold to each other all of a sudden. He'd seen the situation seemingly resolve itself once Sapphire was introduced to her father for the first time. They seemed like they were on the verge of being a couple for good what with the apologies they shared.

However, finding Amy was of the utmost importance, and they were about to meet another steep obstacle as several FBI agents suddenly stormed the room.

It took only a few minutes for the rest of the FBI to acknowledge Sonic's presence as he, as well as the others, were escorted to a waiting area within the building that lay right next to what used to be G.U.N. headquarters.

Thankfully, it took the same amount of time to explain why they were snooping around inside the empty building. However, it was almost as if they were expected to be found within the alternate dimension, which made for a sense of uneasiness amongst the four.

"Sit tight, Sonic," one of the agents clad in what looked like S.W.A.T. regalia said, "One of our operatives will be in to see you all in just a moment."

The blue hedgehog nodded reluctantly, still unable to decipher what in the world was going on. He looked at the many faces that stared back through the windows that made up the waiting area, but not with the same joy and awe he had seen when he went public for the first time while staying with Chris. Their looks of concern felt like an icy wind that finds its way to bare skin despite multiple layers of clothing.

He could almost feel his heart sink down to his stomach, which rumbled with the thought of bad tidings ahead.

"Sonic?" asked a dainty and very familiar voice as a slightly tall woman of middle age walked in.

"Topaz?" Rouge said, quickly identifying the lady. "Is that you?"

She nodded and smiled, but it obviously hid something pretty bad behind it. "In the flesh."

The two shared a brief hug, since they had not seen each other in several years, which was a surprise since they both figured they'd never see each other again.

Something awry about Rouge made Topaz want to ask about her, but decided against it, as casual conversation wasn't the reason she was there. However, she did acknowledge the others with a professional smile.

"Somehow, I figured you'd find a way back here again, considering what had happened," she said as she gingerly sat on the arm of one of the couches populating the small room.

Sonic's eyebrows rose at how casual her words came off, as if she knew a lot more and was just begging to tell.

"You're all probably wondering what happened with the G.U.N. main facility. The organization has been dissolved now for almost three years, with many former agents being reassigned to duties overseen by its new owner, the FBI. Me, included."

"What happened?" asked Rouge.

"Can't say too much," Topaz said, taking notice of three men clad in black suits and glum expressions as they walked by, not caring that the others could see their hard stares. "But let's just say that there were some bad things that happened that G.U.N. initiated, violating their policies big-time."

Sonic looked over to the former agent, who sustained an expression as if to tell him 'See, I told you they have secrets.'

"Topaz," the hedgehog said, sternly, "I have to know what happened to Amy. G.U.N. was behind it. I've seen it, Rouge has seen it, we've all seen it."

Topaz looked down at the floor, nervously shuffling her hands. Once, twice, she looked around at her surroundings, surveying who had gone back to work and who remained where they were, transfixed on the anthropomorphic miracles mere feet of their workspace. Most of all, though, she kept looking for the black suited men, as they seemed to be her superiors.

"All right," she finally said, defeated. "Follow me."

* * *

It was a most unpleasant journey down to the lower levels of the FBI building, as more and more men and women, some wearing black suits, some wearing military-like regalia kept staring as they passed. Their expressions ranged from gloomy to downright harsh, likely spurred by them having uncovered the dark secrets of G.U.N., and later finding out that those secrets had been lying under their noses all along. 

"I may lose my job over this, you know," Topaz stated, hopeful that Sonic would change his mind at pressing for vital information. "This is a private sector."

Sonic remained silent, recalling what she had said, and how the words _'bad things'_ left a horrible aftertaste that coated his tongue.

Knowing she wasn't going to make headway, Topaz sighed and approached a small room that was fitted with all sorts of technical gadgetry.

"Lieutenant Tanaka," she said in a slow, monotone voice to a small receptacle mounted just above a keypad. "Voice pass one-one-three-tango-beta-zero-zero-gamma."

"Identification accepted," responded the receptacle in a quirky computer-generated voice. "Stand by for retina scan."

"God, this is such a pain in the ass," Topaz mumble as she leaned in.

"Scan complete. Good morning, Lieutenant Tanaka."

And with a dull, heavy click, the door was unlocked.

"Fancy stuff," Tails whispered to Knuckles, quite impressed with the technical toys the humans had.

The echidna replied with only a grumbling sigh.

Inside the room were three computer terminals and several filing cabinets.

"Okay, so I lied," Topaz said, closing the door behind her.

Sonic looked sternly at her, folding his arms, as if waiting for her to explain the bad things she had commented on earlier.

"Okay, Sonic. G.U.N. had decided to more toward a scientific edge of military governance after the hullabaloo on ARK when you guys stopped Robotnik's last attempt at revenge. They saw the amount of energy being released by you and your shadowy cohort. They measured it and began thinking of ways they could use such a powerful source to their advantage. It was by sheer luck that they managed to find one of the energy rings that fell back to earth."

"But they wouldn't be able to use any of its energy, though," interrupted Tails. "Shadow only used it as an inhibitor so he could only channel bits of energy. To tap into the full potential, he took them off, which weakened him after he would use all of it up."

"I know, Tails. But try telling the scientists that. They were determined to get it to work, and when they couldn't, they started thinking of ways to get their hands on the chaos emeralds. They'd also seen how much energy those gems produce, too."

Rouge cringed, as a flash of her being attacked by the G.U.N. agent rushed through her head.

"So, they figured if they could get to our world, they'd just take them from us, right?" growled Knuckles.

Topaz sheepishly nodded. "They were hungry for power. They knew that if they could somehow get the emeralds and get their source of energy, they'd be free to take over anything they wanted, because no man could ever beat back that much power."

"So, they knew of Charles Thorndyke's machine that teleported you all back to your home using the energy source from ARK, as well as the chaos emeralds you had with you at the time."

Tails' face drooped with fear. "They didn't…do anything to him did they?"

Topaz sighed, unwilling to share the news. "Tails, Charles died five years ago, peacefully. He was in his eighties, Tails. It was just his time to go."

The fox's face dropped a little more at the sad news. He loved the time he had spent with the wily old man that rivaled his own intelligence and love of technology. Saying goodbye to him was equally as hard as having to fire the last shot that ended Cosmo's life, despite her promises of coming back.

Now, they were both gone.

"I'm sorry you had to hear it from me, Tails," Topaz continued, broken at having to share it at such an awkward time. "But in speaking with Chris, he always smiled when he remembered the times he spent with you."

A small smile finally appeared on Tails' face, though it didn't do much to suppress his sadness. He was definitely going to miss him.

"Is Chris okay?" Sonic spoke up, his voice quivering with anger on his assumption that G.U.N. had gone after him with bad intentions.

"Chris is fine, Sonic," Topaz continued. "But he did have a run-in with G.U.N. They found out that the machine was in his possession, tricking him into signing it over with a false promise of using it for the good of mankind, as well as a way for you and your friends to come visit. Obviously, he was overjoyed at hearing that, so he obliged and showed them how it worked."

Sonic suddenly looked at Knuckles. "When Chris emerged from the master emerald, did it not begin glowing, Knuckles?"

Miffed at being questioned in such a derogatory manner, he quickly looked away, but nodded his head.

"I'm sure it did the same thing when those idiots came to our world," he said, making sure not to make eye contact with the hedgehog.

Sonic, however, knew something was amiss.

"You weren't even there, were you?" he asked.

"I was out looking for _her_ and the emeralds when they must've emerged."

Rouge's face turned a slight shade of red at Knuckles' tone of voice.

"But it doesn't make sense," Sonic continued, leaning against one of the filing cabinets. "I saw the machine with my own two eyes. It was inside the forest, a few miles from Eggman's base, and then it vanished after the agents put the emeralds into some holding areas. It's like it created a version of chaos control all by itself."

"That, I can't answer," Topaz replied. "Maybe Chris made some upgrades to it so that it could perform chaos control once it had emeralds in place. Maybe he made it so that it could teleport using only the master emerald's energy. Maybe the G.U.N. scientists figured out a way to do all that. After all, they were able to duplicate Eggman's robots just from spare parts they had picked up from battles."

"Then why did they go after Amy and Eggman, then, if they could duplicate things like that?"

Topaz swallowed hard, as she knew that the hedgehog's last question was going to be the hardest to answer, and more likely the reason she had led them to the computer terminals.

"Sonic, as for why they went after Amy, I don't know. No one does. As for Eggman, why not go after someone who does know how to tap into the chaos emerald's power and promise him things no one else could promise? Please understand that I'm only guessing, but knowing G.U.N., I wouldn't put it past him."

"Him?"

"General Louis Craddock. He was the one that spearheaded most of the plans that revolved around obtaining the chaos emeralds. He had this thing for wanting power. He was almost obsessed with seeing the true potential of G.U.N.'s military presence powered by the chaos energy the emeralds could give their robots."

"What do you mean '_had'_?" asked Tails.

"Had, as in he's missing now, presumed dead. When his plans started becoming more and more unrealistic, bordering treasonous as he began planning to overtake the entire U.S. government for himself so that he could become a supreme global superpower. He was immediately discharged and arrested for high treason, but before he could be put away, he had formed a guerrilla group with G.U.N. that supported him, which included many of the scientists at Area 99. They somehow escaped to an unknown location."

"After hearing of that, the FBI stepped in and received permission from the president to immediately dissolve the organization, granting amnesty to those not involved with the guerrilla group whatsoever."

As she continued explaining the rather boring details surrounding who had been pardoned, and who hadn't, she sat in front of one of the terminals and logged into the intranet, navigating her way to a set of files pertaining to something called _Project Onyx._

"Project Onyx?" asked Sonic. "Is this another faker like Shadow?"

"Doubt it," Topaz said, turning around the chair. "This was something different. The FBI, through a tip offered up by one of the guerrillas that decided he had seen enough and wanted out, found the base in which they were experimenting with the chaos emeralds they had stolen from Doctor Eggman, and began an extensive stakeout. Eventually, they hacked into their database and found out that Eggman had figured out a way to channel the emeralds' energy source and store it within a central storage unit, which was an onyx gemstone they had dug up. I guess Eggman saw that it could handle all that energy, so they went with his idea. To this day, none of us knows what his intent was with storing all that energy into one gemstone. We may never know."

Sonic, who had been impatiently tapping his foot while the technological gobbledygook carried on, having no relevance as to why Amy was kidnapped, finally decided that he had heard enough.

"So what does this have to do with Amy, Topaz?" he snapped, firmly planting his fists into his thigh. "Why did they take her?"

"Sonic, I told you I don't know why," Topaz repeated, her voice cracking with just a hint of fear. "But after our agents discovered human subjects being experimented on with the chaos energy, they stormed the base in hopes of a peaceful surrender. Instead, they became engaged in a fierce firefight."

Topaz suddenly wheeled over to an adjacent filing cabinet and opened one of the drawers, pinpointing the exact location of a vast series of folders. With hands shaking, she took out a folder that contained evidence, which made the hedgehog's face turn white with horror.

It was charred remains of Amy's dress.

"We lost several of our agents in the fight, as well as many of the guerrilla combatants. As a last measure of desperation, Craddock initiated a self-destruct command to the base, leveling it completely. So although we were able to stop their experiments, it came at a high price."

Sonic shook with a wild mixture of emotions as he took the clear bag, examining her dress, reduced to a charred mess of fabric and thread. She had been kidnapped so that she would have been used as an experiment for this Craddock maniac. She had worn energy rings on her wrists, which would've negated the chaos energy, or at least stored it with no ill effect on her. But since that energy was emanating from an entirely different source other than a chaos emerald, he didn't know what would've come from it. And as he looked at the bag again with disbelieving eyes, he knew might have never again.

"Eggman's and Craddock's remains were not found in the aftermath. The assumption was that they had been incinerated in the blast. This was all we found of Amy, as her remains were not found, either. Since then, this case was eventually closed. I'm sorry, Sonic."

The overwhelming sound of silence ran rampant within the small room, with all eyes on Sonic as he swallowed hard, his focus still glued to the bag he held in front of his face.

"No," he gasped, choking back his anguish. "It's not true. It's not true!"

He threw the bag down and practically leapt toward the keyboard, not really knowing what he was doing as he used the mouse to thumb through the data entries relevant to the case Topaz had been talking about.

Eventually, he found the file he hoped he wouldn't have found:

NAME: AMY ROSE

GENDER: FEMALE

SPECIES: HEDGEHOG

AGE??

STATUS: DECEASED

EVIDENCE UNCLEAR AS THERE WERE NO VISUAL SIGNS OF BODILY REMAINS WITHIN THE BLAST VICINITY. PRESUMED DEATH UPON INITIAL BLAST AS DESCRIBED BY DAMAGE APPLIED TO VICTIM'S APPAREL AND LOCATION OF APPAREL.

LOCATION OF APPAREL FOUND IN CENTRAL REGION OF BLAST ZONE.

END FILE

With shock, disbelief, unimaginable and insurmountable emotional pain that wrecked his mind and soul, Sonic fell to the floor in a dejected, defeated heap, his emotions finally freeing themselves as the truth that he had been seeking for so long had finally unveiled itself to him.

His mind returned to the present, as he, and his band of four teammates aboard the Tornado-X, lazily made their way to Chris Thorndyke so that they could make their way home minus a beloved comrade.

* * *

Chapter 9 will be up soon...please R/R! Thanks! 


	9. Chapter 9

Sonic and all other various Sonic The Hedgehog characters are Copyright SEGA, Sonic Team, TMS Entertainment, and all other associations affiliated with the Sonic X anime/manga. All other characters belong to their rightful owner (me) and have no similarities with above-said characters whatsoever. Names used for other characters are random. Any people bearing the real name, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Another update!

* * *

9

For months, it seemed that the undeniable shock of Amy's demise would never end, transgressing into episodes of intense sorrow, guilt, sadness, and agonizing distress at trying to live life without one of their own, as well as periods of denial which were vehemently defended to a point where everyone had virtually distanced themselves so that each could deal with the loss in their own way.

For months, no one could really talk or even see one another, as idle conversation could no longer happen without it steering back to the how's and why's of her disappearance, kidnapping, and untimely passing.

But as an old saying goes, in which it states that time will heal all wounds, things slowly began to ease, allowing the hopeful and the heartbroken to finally come to terms with the undeniable truth that had befallen them.

Though the decision was tougher than any decisions they had made in their life, it was agreed upon that there was nothing more that could be done other than accept what fate had brought them, and give the fallen pink hedgehog a proper service for which her teammates and friends could each bid her farewell one final time.

There were quite a few that had shown to pay their respects, their gratitude, and their thanks for the girl who had made an impact on their lives, which soon caused the initial overtone of despair to eventually ease, as they all shared past stories, both funny and inspirational, and celebrated her life well into the next morning.

But while others slept, content that they had bid their fallen friend a well deserved farewell to the afterlife, Sonic remained awake, perched atop a large branch from an old weathered tree not far from Amy's home, which had been left untouched so that it would serve as a place for quiet reflection.

A passing breeze gently rattled the branches that were spawning new buds ready to welcome another spring season, and as it passed, Sonic swore to himself that he had heard his name being mentioned somewhere amongst the passive whistle.

He looked up at the immense wall of grey clouds rumbling overhead as the wind slightly began to pick up in intensity. Rain would soon be coming.

Sighing, he jumped down and walked over to her house, her walkway now partially hidden from the unkept grass. Before he grabbed the handle, he noticed the sign bearing ownership of the house. Immediately, he remembered the promise he had made to her upon his return from the other dimension, fulfilling it by presenting her with a white rose.

A small smile rippled across his mouth as he remarked on how he had kept his promise, where she had not.

Slowly, he opened the door to the dark and chilly room that had now become pale, as dust had begun to accumulate. Everything was still the same as she had left it on that fateful night. As he crept through the room, distant voices from memories that rampaged through his mind began to toy with his mind. At times, he could almost see them fade into view, as if time itself had gone backwards.

There were moments which brought forth slight chuckles, such as those where he found himself vulnerable to uncomfortable and innocent innuendos she'd let loose on him just to see his reactions, which were mostly him being embarrassed and red-faced.

As he sauntered through the room, taking inventory of all the dust-covered surroundings, he came upon a small picture frame resting by her phone. Gently, he wiped the glass, revealing the picture that had made the blue hedgehog uncomfortable for years. Sonic couldn't help but laugh a little at the expression on his face as he looked at himself being literally tackled behind by the pink hedgehog, adorned with a smile that couldn't have described her feelings during that time any better.

He looked at a little longer, reprimanding himself for being such an insensitive jerk to her, forcing her to follow his every lead as if to simply have fun with her feelings instead of listening to them.

His smile faded, as did the paled light from outside as the first raindrops began tapping on the roof.

He plopped down on a nearby chair, caring little for the cloud of dust that puffed out in every direction, still staring at the picture, sighing.

"Guess I really blew it, didn't I?" he asked the picture. "All this time, you just wanted for us to be a couple, and I never paid attention to that. I know it sounds corny and all, but I was only trying to protect you, Amy. I didn't want you to…"

He choked on his words for a moment.

"To get hurt."

He placed the picture back onto the table, face down.

"But I guess I'm a little late for that, now. I let you down, Amy, and now you're gone. I never did get to tell you how much I—"

His speech was interrupted with a loud clap of thunder, startling him, awakening him. The timing was so coincidental; it was as if Amy herself was sending a message to him, reprimanding him for becoming so wishy-washy and depressed, telling him to get off of his ass and start saving the world again.

Another long rumble eventually made Sonic smile through tears that had formed.

"I get the point, Amy," he said, wiping them away. "I'm going. I'm going."

But before leaving, he plucked the picture out from the frame, folded it, and stuck into the side of his shoe.

-0-0-0-

Tails had approached Rouge to try and convince her to join the team so that they could assist the local governments in thwarting any sort of evil capers executed by copycat groups trying to complete what Eggman had never been able to do: conquer the world.

Though she made it quite clear to the two-tailed fox that her relationship with other members of the team would remain anonymous and distant, she did agree to join, convincing Tails that her line of work would revolve around her own specific skill set.

And with a pointy finger jabbed into Tails' chest, as well as an icy sneer laden with the obvious warning to not try and couple her with the echidna, the fox found it rather easy to cooperate with her demands.

"I'm glad you see it my way," she had said with a sly smile, cupping his chin into her hands.

And so, with the team somewhat together again, though Knuckles and Rouge often turned their noses up to each other, only having to talk when it was absolutely necessary, their unique dynamic makeup immediately began to pay off, as within a few months, they had become successful in fending off two attempts from copycat groups trying to revive Eggman's base, as well as his robotic creations.

Though in days past, Sonic would've been mum in his victories he deemed as being relatively minor in comparison to vicious plights staged against Eggman and his robotic henchmen, but he swore that at times, he could almost hear Amy nagging at him for not appreciating the joy it brought to simply help someone out in any dire situation, whether they were of major importance or not.

Cream had also agreed to help out; watching over Sapphire during time the team was out chasing adventure, as well as heading up the cooking details since Rouge was adamantly refusing to do such a thing, cringing at the thought of becoming more of an at-home mother instead of a master treasure hunter with a skill set learned from time spent as a government agent that had begun to resurface with each assignment given to the team.

Though reluctant at first, Sonic finally agrees with the others that Cream should probably work from Amy's home, since it had become pretty dingy and run-down from months of neglect, even though it was intended to be left untouched so that it could always radiate her spirit.

But dust, mold, and a paler appearance tended to do the opposite.

Cream made herself at home, her culinary arts providing delicious treats that closely resembled those made by the pink hedgehog. That, along with her quirky amenable behavior, mainly stirred by her insistent pining for Tails almost seemed to partially fill a void, too, much to Sonic's amusement.

A different time had set its foundation upon the gang, with them acting more and more as an investigative agency with the authority to be the judge and juror to those daring enough to try and continue the evil doctor's footsteps.

But it wasn't long until Tails interrupted a luncheon with disturbing news. He had received a message from Chris (the two had managed to build a communication portal using his teleportation machine, as well as Tails', using the chaos emeralds to power the connection during the brief visit they had before abruptly returning home after Sonic had learned of Amy's demise.) stating that he had been approached by what appeared to be a government-run energy company inquiring about chaos emeralds and where they could be found since Chris had had contact with them before.

"Chris told me that he had asked where their company was located," he explained, "But their representative dodged the question, telling him that if he happened to know where some could be found, that he send them a letter with specific directions to the location, and that if those directions were true, that he would be compensated generously."

Sonic sipped the last of his soda, leaning back in his chair, inquisitive.

"Compensated generously, huh?" he said. "This has got to be Eggman's doing."

"Chris and I thought the same thing," Tails responded. "There's no way he's dead. He's way too cunning to go up in a self-detonated explosion."

"Right, Tails. And if my hunches are correct, if Eggman wants to know about the others, then the original three must still be with him."

"We've got to stop him, then," Knuckles chimed in. "Had it not been for me, I mean, us, to stop him last time he was in Chris' world, he would've easily taken over, and that was with him only having _one_ emerald. Can you imagine what he'll do with three?"

Sonic tapped a finger on his chin, conjuring up a plan.

"Rouge? You're the one with the government knowledge. Any thoughts?" he asked, motioning toward the ex-spy.

"The only thing I can add is that places like that don't like to go public," she added, trying to convince Sapphire to try a piece of apple pie. "They kind of like things to be hush-hush, if you know what I mean."

"Go figure," Knuckles grumbled, his back facing her.

Rouge cast an icy stare at the echidna's back, but kept on explaining that such places often use post office boxes to receive messages that weren't digital, such as inquiries, purchases, and so forth.

"Well," Tails added, reaching into a pocket of his lab coat he had begun to wear on a regular basis. "Chris did give me this little bit of info."

Scribbled on the paper was an address to a post office box bearing the agency's name, as well as an e-mail address.

"Interesting," the blue hedgehog said, looking over the addresses, knowing that it was now time to get back into the business of thwarting Eggman and retrieving the emeralds. The mission would be a simple one, but it would also be one to honor their fallen friend and ally, and perhaps even be a way for it to provide some closure.

"Did Chris respond to them yet?"

"I didn't ask, but I doubt it," Tails responded.

"Then maybe we can have him send one, then, boasting his knowledge of the emeralds, and the fact that he knows where some are, and willing to part with them for a highly considerable sum of money."

"Are you crazy, Sonic?" Knuckles griped, slamming his hands down on the table. "_Sell_ the emeralds we have left to Eggman?!"

"Pipe down, idiot," Rouge finally scoffed, rubbing her ear from the loud bang caused by the echidna's rash temper. "I think I know where Sonic's going with this. You're going to make some fake ones again, right?"

"Exactly," Sonic agreed, a sly smile forming.

"Ah, the old bait and trap!" Tails said. "Count me in!"

"We'll have Chris make them an offer they can't pass up: a 'trial' package containing two fake emeralds. If they like them, then Chris will promise them more, at a _good_ price, obviously."

"Oh, this is going to be great!" Tails squeaked before a sudden realization hit him. "But what will happen to Chris' lab once they find out they're fakes?"

"Not to worry," Sonic promised. "Chris can just send them an e-mail with an explanation that an employee had eavesdropped and tried to swindle them by making the false ones."

Despite his confidence, Sonic knew the plan wasn't fail-safe.

"But you're right. With Eggman behind it, once he knows the emeralds are fakes, he'll be coming back for Chris, and it won't be a pleasant visit."

Having been eager to fight a legitimate fight for so long, Knuckles practically leapt to his feet.

"Well what're we waiting for?" he shouted, clinching his fists. "Let's go!"

There was a brief moment of silence floating about the room, as everyone didn't know exactly what to say about the echidna's corny stance, before a chorus of choked-back snickers began rippling over the silence, both irritating and embarrassing him.

However, despite the outlandish display, he was right. Preparations for the risky excursion needed to get underway, and fast, as they didn't know whether or not Eggman would try to make a surprise visit.

-0-0-0-

The letter sent to the agency worked without a hitch, and a rendezvous point with Chris was set up to acquire the fake emeralds Tails had methodically constructed from normal gemstones, injecting a coloring agent to match the real ones safely housed within the X-Tornado.

Upon the night of the acquisition, the group had met at Tails' lab.

"I made sure to replicate just the ones we have," Tails explained as Sonic examined the impostors with an impressed look. "That way, ol' Eggy won't figure out they're fake too soon. By the time he does, we'll have them all back with us."

"Nice," Sonic said with a smile, handing it back to his beaming associate. "This should buy us enough time."

He turned to the others who had also shown up and briefed them of the night's activities. "This is going to be a simple hit and run routine, like we used to do. Only this time, we'll be a little more prepared, right? Okay, Rouge, floor's yours."

The former government spy, decked out in her dark outfit that hadn't been worn for such a long time, stepped up and placed a large case onto the table, which confused everyone.

"All of you know how G.U.N. worked, right? Well, these are its radical cronies that don't play fair at all. If we're storming their base or whatever it is, we're not going to get far by just our good looks and moves. Well, I might be able to, anyway."

She laughed heartily as her joke was met with the same silence given to Knuckles. She quickly stopped after only hearing her laugh, composed herself, and opened the case.

Inside laid several guns of several sizes, as well as other peripherals and assorted weaponry that looked both impressive and intimidating.

"Holy crap, Rouge!" gasped Sonic. "Starting a war today or what?"

"Trust me on this, Sonic," she said, plucking out a large black gun: a Glock 22, and jamming a full magazine into the handle. "Fists and speed doesn't stop bullets. Our entry is not going to be appreciated very much. They're going to be playing rough, so we might as well play rough, too."

She dispersed the guns to everyone, including Knuckles, who grunted gruffly at having to rely on human made weaponry when a pair of fast moving knuckles laden with rock hard growths seemed worthy enough to him.

"What about sensors?" asked Tails, trying to peer down into the deep case.

"Not a problem, here," Rouge added, taking out four pairs of headphone equipped with a small red eyepiece that would pick up all sorts of laser detectors. "While these will take care of the sensors, it won't be much help to the motion detectors. Tails, you and I will have to crack the override mechanism with these little devices I programmed."

She handed him a small device that resembled a small digital music player.

"The control panels located by each door also power the security sensors within that region. They can be accessed by either manual transmissions, or remote, hence, the remote sensor. All you do is thumb to the execute file, run it, and make sure it's pointed at the control panel."

"I have to ask," Sonic said, impressed at the variety of toys she had acquired. "Where did you get all this?"

"Being a government spy had its perks. I'll leave it at that."

She winked toward Sonic, who laughed.

Within a few hours, and after there were final instructions given to everyone on how their plan was to unfold once the fake emeralds were taken, as well as final checks on the gear and on the X-Tornado, the team entered the portal that had been linked to Chris' machine.

There was no time for hello's or anything resembling a warm welcome, as work had to come first. Instead, they piled Chris into the backseat with Rouge as Sonic and Knuckles took their usual spots upon each wing, giving a thumbs-up to Tails, who fired the engines.

The flew over Station Square, across the adjoining lake, and over to a smaller town miles away, landing in a vacant lot that neared a run down factory that had long been out of service, still early enough so that their arrival wouldn't have been noticed by the coming agents.

With a few minutes to spare until the exchange, Chris readied himself while the others kept a vigilant watch to make sure nothing could go wrong. Before disappearing into the shadows, Sonic helped calm Chris down to make sure his nervousness wouldn't surface.

"Don't worry, pal," Sonic reassured. "You'll be fine."

"I hope you're right," Chris replied, uncertainty tainting his words. "I just hope Eggman isn't the one who arrives. If it is, then we're screwed."

"Nah. Eggy's got nothing on me. Besides, he doesn't have his hunks of junk there to rescue him this time. Don't sweat it."

Chris smiled faintly as a pair of oncoming headlights appeared at the end of the alleyway leading up to the lot.

"Game on!" Sonic said, giving his friend a quick thumbs-up before disappearing into the shadows.

The young man prepared for the meeting by silently reminding himself that Sonic was there just in case things didn't quite go as planned. It relaxed him, though he still wasn't sure what he would do if Eggman were to get out of the car.

But such a problem never came, as a man clad in black hopped out of the car once it had arrived, its headlights illuminating Chris' metal briefcase containing the fake emeralds inside.

"You Thorndyke?" the shadowy man asked, careful to remain hidden behind the beams.

"It's me, Chris," he said, tightening his grip on the briefcase.

"Let's see 'em."

"I want to see the money, first."

Sonic grimaced at Chris' forwardness, mouthing 'what's he doing?' toward Rouge.

The shadowy figure chuckled. "You Thorndyke's never change, do you?"

Chris frowned a little, unsure of that comment was supposed to mean.

"Sure. You're the one with the emeralds, right?"

A smaller briefcase slid over to his feet, open, revealing several stacks of money, each sporting Benjamin Franklin on the front.

"Thirty million," the figure said. "Fifteen for each emerald. Now, let's see them."

Rouge nearly choked after hearing the amount, wishing she had gotten to them instead of getting a lousy five million for the ones she had sold earlier. She looked back at Sonic, mouthing the amount with wide eyes.

Chris carefully placed his briefcase on the ground, opened it, and slid it over by the figure's feet.

The figure was immediately impressed by the brilliance each emerald shone from the headlights.

"Nice," he growled with pleasure. "Very nice. We will likely be contacting you again, Chris Thorndyke."

Quickly, the figure scooped up the briefcase and disappeared into his car, driving off without knowing that behind him lurked a large jet armed with four combatants poised to stop his boss, Doctor Eggman.

Chris watched his friends, as well as the agency's car, disappear into the night before plucking out a cell phone, dialing it quickly.

"Craddock?" he said with a deep sigh. "They're on their way. Yes. I got the money. Don't say that. I'm not proud of what I've done. All I want is Helen back, unharmed."

A faint bit of laughter crackled over the phone before Chris disconnected it, and abruptly threw it onto the ground, obliterating it.

He looked at the pieces for a moment, then, buried his face into his hands.

"I'm so sorry, Sonic. Please find it in your heart to forgive me."

* * *

Now _this_ is a twist, isn't it:) 

Again, thanks to all who have read this first fiction from me. I hope you've enjoyed it, and continue to enjoy it with each new chapter. Those of you who haven't done so yet, please R/R! Thanks!


	10. Chapter 10

Sonic and all other various Sonic The Hedgehog characters are Copyright SEGA, Sonic Team, TMS Entertainment, and all other associations affiliated with the Sonic X anime/manga. All other characters belong to their rightful owner (me) and have no similarities with above-said characters whatsoever. Names used for other characters are random. Any people bearing the real name, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

UPDATE:

I am back everyone. Please pardon the lengthy hiatus, as things at work became absolutely nuts as we moved from a Linux based server to an IIS-based server, much to my displeasure. So, my time has been all but eaten away with managing files, changing database languages, and assisting client websites with the move.

I told you I wouldn't abandon this project, and I sincerely hope that this chapter was well worth the wait. Enjoy!

* * *

10

For hours, the X-Tornado tailed the car as it zigzagged along the winding road that snaked through the hills and plateaus. Night had begun to fail as the first signs of the coming dawn began to illuminate beyond one of the larger peaks.

"Sonic," Tails said, struggling to remain awake. "We've been behind this fool forever. Does he know we're following him and just leading us out to who knows where?"

Sonic said nothing, instead, kept his focus on the speeding car.

"Sonic! We know he's with Eggman. Why don't we just stop him and make him take us to the base?"

"He is," Sonic finally replied. "Look."

Tails sighed, expecting to see nothing as usual, and brought up a visual of the area around the car. Sure enough, nestled within a valley were outlines of several buildings, as well as a runway.

Intrigued, Tails zoomed in on the runway, noting the familiarity to Area 99's layout. As he guessed, it sported the number '53' at the end.

"It's a military base," he said with just a touch of concern. "But I don't see any lights anywhere. It looks abandoned."

Rouge, who had been keeping to herself and definitely from eyesight of the echidna perched beside her out upon the wing, heard Tails' comment about the abandoned base and decided to see what it was he was talking about.

Just as Tails had seen earlier, she, too, caught a glimpse of the white '53' at the end of the airstrip. A slight hum of interest escaped her.

Tails heard it. "Rouge?"

"You said that it looks abandoned, right?" she asked, slumping back into the co-pilot's seat. "You're right. It is. Has been for quite some time, too. That base was what you'd call the predecessor to what the humans call Area 51 now."

She looked out of the window again, toward the base, and smirked.

"It's just like Eggy to go find himself a run down base and use it as his own. That man's lost all sense of creativity anymore."

Sonic gave the former government agent a hard look.

"Rouge, what do you know about this place?" he asked.

"Only what I was told," she replied as she begun to nonchalantly look over her gloved hands. "Don't forget that those idiots didn't give me much leniency to do much of anything."

Sonic could sense she knew something and didn't want to tell, but dared not to openly ask about it.

Rouge looked right back into Sonic's eyes, reading the skepticism they contained.

"If you don't believe me, fine. It wouldn't be the first time. But during my days as an agent, I had to enter some data on fifty-three into a database that archived decommissioned base information like blueprints to the buildings, schematics to the circuitry system, boring crap like that.

"I asked one of the officers why it was decommissioned, and a senior officer immediately jumped in and let me know that that information was classified and not to be openly discussed, even in government quarters.

"So, obviously, I wasn't going to take no for an answer. I hacked my way into their archives, but found nothing but an accident report that didn't explain much other than that an experiment had gone awry, leveling the building it was being conducted in and killing several officers. That was it.

"And even that little bit of useless information got my butt in trouble. I was lucky my ass wasn't thrown in jail, or worse, had it not been for the situation we were all in with Eggman at the time."

Sonic and Tails looked at each other, undecided on whether to believe Rouge's statements or not.

"I told you that this government holds dirty little secrets, Sonic. Something happened down there and they didn't want it to go public for some reason."

Sonic began tapping his finger on his chin, pondering.

"And now this so-called energy company is housed there, asking about our chaos emeralds after Eggman goes missing for a while."

"You don't suppose it's that Craddock person, too, do you, Sonic?" Tails asked.

Sonic chuckled at how everything was becoming more and more coincidental with each passing moment.

"Wouldn't doubt it, pal."

He suddenly looked toward Rouge, apprehensive.

"I also wouldn't doubt if you're little friend is a part of this, too, Rouge."

The former agent, who had been nonchalantly filing her nails, shot up after hearing the accusation.

"Topaz? No way."

"Do you really believe that, Rouge? After all, you're the one that told us that the government has its dirty little secrets. What makes you think she's not hiding a secret from you?"

For once, Rouge could not come back with a sharp-witted reply. She knew Topaz was a friend that would never stab her in the back, and yet, the hedgehog's words sunk deep into her skull, forcing her to actually question her friend's worth and integrity.

Frustrated at the inconvenient truth, she huffed and looked back down toward the buildings, speechless.

Sonic also could not find any words that might've made things clearer. Instead, he simply pointed out a place for Tails to land as he began to wonder what it was the team had gotten themselves into.

* * *

Hidden by shadows from the failing night and the coming of dawn, the black car slithered its way toward an entrance that angled itself into an underground tunnel, its dark mouth laden with age and neglect.

Around it lay several buildings gray with age and years of enduring the blistering sun during the height of day, as well as the howling winds that often accompanied the dead of night, swirling sand to and fro as it washed over the base and through the rest of the valley Area 53 resided in.

The base was all but dead, except for the one small building with the underground entrance. A small twinkling of light perched atop the roof kept a keen eye out for anyone that might somehow stumble across what they would deem an industrial and governmental wasteland.

Below the watchful eye of the lone camera glued to the one entrance used by the shadowy man that had bought the fake emeralds off of Chris for a considerable sum, the car wound its way to a stopping point guarded by two guerrilla militants, armed with rifles.

There was a brief exchange, and one of the guards flipped a switch that resembled those used by prisoner guards when they executed criminals using electricity.

A loud pang of metal echoed through the dark corridor illuminated only by what light the guards had around the stopping point, and the two large metal bay doors slowly creaked open.

Behind the doors lay a massive laboratory filled with various types of robotic machinery and weaponry, all within a chaotic hum of activity as workers and guards moved about from station to station, resembling ants and their furious work habits in constructing their colony.

But that hum quieted as the man strode across the floor, the briefcase containing the fake emeralds chained to his wrist. Somehow, they knew what he had, but could only stare in awe as he passed by, eventually disappearing into an adjacent hallway.

Wearing no emotion whatsoever, the man made his way down the long hallway toward a lone doorway where his superiors were waiting.

No sooner did the click of the opening door alert his presence, did a portly gentleman donning a red overcoat laden with brass buttons approach him.

"Let's see them," he instructed, his glasses gleaming from the fluorescent lights above.

As instructed, the man placed the case on top of a table cluttered with various detailed schematics of robots and other assorted machines, and opened it.

"Ah, I've been searching for these elusive gems for quite some time, you know," the man in red said, plucking one of the emeralds out of its container. "Now, I've got two more thanks to Chris Thorndyke's greedy side."

He turned and faced the messenger.

"I don't understand why some people are such suckers for money when you can have power like this in your hands. Eventually, the money runs out, but this kind power lives forever."

He gently placed the emerald back into its spot, smiling all the while.

"But, that's why I'm a genius and the rest aren't. Take these and place them with the others so they can react with each other."

"Yes, sir," the man said, but before he could leave, the man sporting the pince-nez spectacles grabbed his shoulder.

"Call me doctor, boy. Doctor Eggman."

The man rolled his eyes as Eggman howled with laughter.

"Whatever, sir."

Eggman continued to laugh at his wit as the emeralds were taken into an adjacent room where a large machine hummed menacingly, the three emeralds already there pulsating with light.

Conjoined in a tangled conglomeration of wires and plastic tubing was a terrarium large enough to hold a human being, its windows tinted just enough to where the figure lying in the middle could barely be seen.

Eggman turned and looked upon the terrarium with a smile of evil confidence. It was his finest creation yet. Perhaps not as wonderful as his grandfather's masterpiece, Shadow, but right up there alongside it by his terms.

"Once I have all seven emeralds in my possession, this little miracle of mine will help me rule not only this puny little planet, but every other planet in this galaxy. Hell, this universe! Not even the mighty Metarex could do that!" he gloated, puffing his chest out.

"And Sonic," he continued. "Oh, Sonic, you're going to be in for one hell of a surprise."

"Eggman!" yelled a voice from the doorway, alarming the evil genius. "Are you dreaming out loud again?"

"No, sir," Eggman dutifully said, posing in an awkward salute as the man clad in military regalia stormed past. "Just admiring our new weapon, sir."

The man turned around, sporting a large cigar that bobbed up and down in the corner of his mouth, which was partially covered by his gray and black mustache.

"You know, Egg-O, you're a terrible liar," he continued, laughing as he plopped down onto a chair. "I could hear you all the way down the hallway. What's this bullshit about you ruling the whole universe? Are you serious?"

"Well…yeah," Eggman said in a sheepish tone. "And now I…er…I mean, we, sir, have that capability now thanks to my genius."

"Son, I've been in the military for a long time, and what you were babbling about was the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Our duty right now is for us to take this nation and make it the supreme global superpower it always should have been, and with the Onyx doing all our dirty work, that day will come soon. I like the idea of taking over the world, but let's be realistic for now."

The messenger appeared from the other room.

"Emeralds are placed in their appropriate chambers, General Craddock, but nothing's happening," he reported with a stiff salute.

"Really?" Craddock said, casting a stern and confused glance toward his partner.

"It takes time for chaos emeralds to adapt to each other's presence, General," Eggman warned with a smile, "If you try to force them, bad things tend to happen."

Craddock raised an eyebrow of both wonder and suspicion, but heeded the scientist's warning.

"Very well. We'll check on them tomorrow. Go get the girl and take her to the top. We don't need her anymore."

With a nod and another salute, the messenger disappeared.

"I'm not sure taking Thorndyke's girl was a good idea," Eggman stated, gingerly sitting on a corner of the table.

"It got us the emeralds, didn't it?" the general huffed, blowing a cloud of smoke from the other side of his mouth. "He wilted like an old flower when we notified him of his little girlfriend being taken hostage. He told us everything, and even got that Sonic fellow to even come out here."

Eggman's forehead wrinkled with displeasure. He knew things went haywire anytime that hedgehog got involved somehow, and now his superior actually wanted him out at the base.

"General, sir," Eggman said, shuffling his hands, "Are you sure it's a good idea to bring that pest out here? I mean, he has a way of ruining things before they ever take root. He could really throw a wrench into our works."

Craddock chuckled with confidence.

"You needn't worry yourself about this little Sonic problem. I know all about the little bastard and all he did to you when he was here last time. He may have slipped past your clunky robots and terrible aiming skills, but he won't get past my men. I can guarantee you that."

"He won't be alone."

"He can bring an Goddamn army, for all I care. My men are trained specialists in their fields of combat. It's just crappy that we have to waste him. He really could've been our best tool."

He looked over toward the terrarium.

"But what we've got works just as good, if you ask me."

"General, I don't think you understand how Sonic works at—"

Craddock had finally had it with Eggman's pessimistic attitude, and immediately bolted from his chair, getting right into the evil scientist's face.

"You listen to me, and you listen well! I don't want to hear another word about how Sonic is going to wreck this, and how Sonic is going to ruin that. I've heard about enough of it.

"I so much as hear a peep out of you that contains anything resembling that hedgehog, you're out! Understood?"

Eggman now knew why he hated working with anyone, let alone under an overconfident person who really thought could destroy Sonic as easily as he thought it would be.

He'd been there before. He'd had the same overconfidence, only to watch it go up in flames along with his robotic minions. Eventually, it got the best of him. Direct conflict was not going to work. It never would, which was why he secluded himself in a run-down base he had hastily constructed and began researching ways of storing power generated by the chaos emeralds into one containment unit, hoping there was a way so that he could end his feud with the blue hedgehog and his pals once and for all.

However, research only went so far before experiments based on his calculations and research would ultimately let him if he was correct or not with his guesses. He needed chaos emeralds, but he also knew that getting them would be tough as Knuckles hardly ever let his guard down.

He'd have to face him.

However, as sheer luck would have it, Rouge happened to show up at his doorstep one day, as he was agonizing on what to do about obtaining the emeralds he so desperately sought.

At first, he figured she would try and lure him into some sort of scheme, but as he looked down upon her, he noticed something on her face that he thought he'd never see: fear and uncertainty.

He kept a watchful eye on her as she explained her predicament, waiting for her to pull the trigger on her scheme. Instead, she pulled out two emeralds from a small satchel she had draped over her shoulder, instructing him that if he wanted them, he'd have to pay up.

Eggman knew it was too good to be true, and was reluctant to jump in, as she was never one to part with any jewels whatsoever, let alone chaos emeralds, which he knew were real because they glowed as she held them side by side in her hands.

He knew he'd have to drain everything he kept back after he had suckered literally everyone within Station Square with his artificial sunlight systems that eventually backfired because of Sonic, but to obtain two chaos emeralds as his own, it was worth every penny he had.

Five million dollars later, as well as a promise to never let anyone know of her whereabouts, the emeralds were his.

It wasn't long afterwards, did his world go topsy-turvy until he would awaken under Craddock's watchful eye and atrocious cigar that would leave a horrible taste in his mouth without so much as taking one puff.

The emeralds were now property of the U.S. government, as well as under the watchful eye of G.U.N., the very organization that murdered his grandfather and tried to close down ARK and eliminate Shadow.

However, things were different under Craddock. Unlike the other idiots that pretended to be smart, Louis Craddock's theories of energy storage and manipulation seemed to be on-target with most of Eggman's.

One of which, was the discovery of an onyx gemstone that could hold what seemed to be an unlimited supply of power from external sources using a magnetic field that was nothing more than a reactant to the incoming alien energy flows.

He had asked where they had dug up such a thing that could sustain such a tremendous amount of energy, but was answered only in recited phrases.

However, the only drawback was that mechanical fabrications could not withstand the transferal of energy from the onyx to the machine's auxiliary port and release mechanisms, which were nothing more than enlarged gun barrels. Every machine would explode from the sheer intensity of the transferal.

It was when Craddock turned toward mammalian subjects to test the intensity of the energy transferal, did the government step in again, requesting that such tests be stopped immediately.

Craddock obliged, but quickly returned to the tests, noting that before the subjects literally exploded from the release of energy through embedded release points in their head, the containment seemed stable.

Eggman pinpointed that perhaps the brainwaves the mammal produced actually surrounded the energy flow much like the magnetic wave within the onyx, keeping it subdued until it was released, thus, creating a microchip that could be surgically injected into the subject's head that would meld brainwaves and magnetic waves into one, creating a more robust containment and release.

However, Craddock insisted that in order for the energy to be released in a controlled manner, that a human be used, much to Eggman's interest.

Without a hint of uncertainty and remorse, Craddock moved forward with the test. The test was a success, as the human was able to control the release of the energy beams from his hands, but as predicted, the stress from the release of that energy caused his brain to shut down, killing him instantly.

Thus, the decision to make Amy Rose their next subject was made, despite her vocal disapproval.

However, word had gotten out about their tests on humans, resulting in an immediate order from the president himself that operations cease immediately, that the base be decommissioned, and that the managing general be arraigned for a court martial.

Determined to not convince the president that he was on the verge of a monumental discovery which would all but make the U.S. a military superpower capable of bringing any militant nation to its knees, Craddock continued on with the experiments that ultimately took the lives of several more men and women.

Mortified beyond belief after reports from spies placed in strategic, unnoticeable points around the base that the experiments continued, the president ordered an immediate infiltration of the base after ceasing all G.U.N. operations, instructing that all inhabitants of the base be arraigned on charges of various scales that ranged from treason to conduct unbecoming the U.S. government.

The invasion was led by the F.B.I., involving many former G.U.N. agents since the organization no longer existed, and took Craddock by total surprise.

But being a veteran of the Marines and of a world war meant never giving up, and he wasn't about to desert what he felt was his greatest achievement, despite Eggman's attempts at explaining the overwhelming odds stacked against them in terms of manpower.

With a single order, the guns began to fire, and men trained to protect their country were now falling dead protecting their leader.

And when Craddock, Eggman, and a few remaining soldiers had retreated to an inner chamber, sensing the inevitable, the general decided to pull his trump card: a series of bombs that would level the building and prevent anyone from completing his dream.

Eggman shook free from his stupor when he heard the bombs go off around him.

"Hey!" Craddock yelled inches from his face. "I asked if you understood me!"

Reluctantly, the evil scientists nodded.

The smile returned to the general's face, and he patted Eggman's shoulders.

"I figured you would. Now, we've some business to tend to."

Eggman sighed, took one last look toward the terrarium, and followed Craddock toward an inner office where a large screen awaited them, filled with a face covered with shadows.

"Pardon the interruption, sir," Craddock said, sitting in front of the screen and firmly jabbing his fingers into his chin, "But we just received our shipment from that Thorndyke kid."

"Excellent work, general," the face said, wearing zero emotion, "We of the I.A.P. (International Army of Peace) are most impressed with your handling of that dictator O'Langley using the Onyx. We've spread the word to our operatives, and we're now getting requests from all over."

Craddock smiled.

"So price won't be an issue?"

"For what the Onyx will be used for, and how accurate everything was during the plan, price will certainly not be an issue to us. We'll be contacting you again soon."

As soon as the image faded, a voice crackled over a speaker mounted on the desk Craddock sat at.

"Sir, we've picked up tow outside signals. One from the air and another through our server."

Again, Craddock smiled.

"The server is our beloved friends at the FBI trying to hack us again. Block it quickly and reset the server with a new address."

He slyly looked up at Eggman.

"As for the other, get an assortment of snipers out to meet our guests…and take the girl with you."

"Yes, sir!" the speaker crackled again.

"Ease up, Eggy. After this little annoyance is taken care of, there'll be nothing from stopping you of ruling your world, as I will rule mine."

Though troubled by his superior's overconfidence, the mere sound of the word 'ruler' couldn't help but bring a smile to his face.

* * *

Chapter 12 should be one of the better ones, as a big secret is unveiled...but I'm not telling!


	11. Chapter 11

Sonic and all other various Sonic The Hedgehog characters are Copyright SEGA, Sonic Team, TMS Entertainment, and all other asso

Sonic and all other various Sonic The Hedgehog characters are Copyright SEGA, Sonic Team, TMS Entertainment, and all other associations affiliated with the Sonic X anime/manga. All other characters belong to their rightful owner (me) and have no similarities with above-said characters whatsoever. Names used for other characters are random. Any people bearing the real name, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

* * *

Chapter 11 is now up, enjoy!

* * *

11

The day weaned on, fast approaching evening as Sonic and the others plodded onward toward the base, having landed several miles away as the rugged terrain would not permit landing close in case a hasty exit was needed.

For a day in the dead of summer, the air was unusually crisp and chilly, slowing the group somewhat as they tried their best to shield themselves from the biting gusts that whistled between the sparse evergreens and jagged rocks that jutted up from the ground while continuing to venture up the steep side of the mountain.

"Screws this, I'm headed toward the top to get a better look at this base," Sonic announced before taking off into a supersonic sprint up toward the peak.

"Not without me, you're not!" Knuckles griped, clenching his teeth and taking off into a run after the blue hedgehog, leaving Tails and Rouge behind.

Tails couldn't help but chuckle at the competitiveness those two had between each other. Always, one was trying to outdo the other, no matter if it was saving the world, or playing a board game.

Another gust pinched Tails' ears and tickled his spine, causing him to shiver and duck away from the blustery wind. But in doing so, he caught site of Rouge, lagging, looking down and not her usual confident, sarcastic self.

She had wrapped her arms around herself, not to be warm, but as if she had been given a lethal dose of bad news.

"You okay, Rouge?" Tails asked, waiting up for the former government agent to catch up. "Something wrong?"

"I'm fine," she lied, trying to hide it.

Tails looked at her as she approached, raising an eyebrow.

"Really."

He looked straight into her eye and could easily see that she wasn't fine at all. But who was he to question it? He knew if she wanted to talk about it, she would. He wasn't about to force her to, as she could easily dropkick him over the precipice. He doubted she would do such a thing now, but why take the chance?

"If you say so," he concluded, and began to walk away.

"Tails, wait," Rouge said, beckoning the fox to return to her.

"Yeah?"

He waited for her to spill the beans about what was troubling her, wondering, perhaps, that it was being apart from her daughter that made her feel the way she felt. Perhaps it was the connection she wanted to reestablish with Knuckles that bothered her, knowing how much of an ignoramus the muscly echidna was when it came to common sense. Maybe it was to say she was sorry for what she had done that had gotten turned everyone's life inside out.

"Those two obviously won't listen to me," she explained as she reached into a satchel she brought along with her, pulling out a handgun, a headset, and a good reason to change the subject. "So, here, take these. The Glock's got a full magazine in it, and the safety is off. You squeeze the trigger; it fires."

She handed him the pistol along with a few more instructions on setting up the code cracker neatly installed within the small handheld device that resembled an MP3 player, but he didn't listen. Instead, he was transfixed on the cold, clammy piece of metal capable of taking a life with one move of a finger.

"Rouge, I don't know about this," he said, second-guessing his need.

He'd handled weapons before, and he'd blown up his fair share of robots and other assorted robotic weaponry Eggman threw at him, but the way the gun laid in his hand, his finger instinctively finding its spot nestled right behind the trigger, brought back haunting memories more chilling than the gust of wind that wrapped around his muzzle.

Before coming to grips that firing the shot that both ended his beloved friend's life and saved the universe from imminent destruction was the right thing to do despite the agonizingly difficult decision staring him in the face, he had wrestled with the tempest of emotions that perhaps there were other solutions that were not exercised during the last few moments the Metarex actually had destiny in their hands.

The resulting depression that set in after he and his comrades returned to their home only compounded those thoughts.

However, time would heal all wounds, and his memories of Cosmo never led him astray, rather, strengthened his will to do what he felt was right at all times.

But in looking down at the gun, he, again, had come to the proverbial fork in the road. He had sworn to never again fire upon a living being, even Eggman. He was content in just blowing up his clunky robots.

"Tails?" Rouge asked, wondering why Tails remained silent. It wasn't as if she gave him the gun so that he could shoot himself with it, so why the grim look?

And then it hit her.

Cosmo, she thought. He's never forgiven himself for sacrificing her to save everyone else, even though it was the only option left, and one she chose to commit to despite our pleas.

"Tails, listen to me," she continued. "What happened then and what is happening now are two totally separate things. Those guys down there are nothing like Cosmo. They could care less if they kill every one of us, just as long as their little secret is kept hidden."

Tails slowly raised his head, unveiling the sneer that had formed as Rouge continued.

"Cosmo knew what she had to do, and her courage is what pretty much saved all our butts. No one else stepped up to do what she did, and for you do to do what you did is as heroic as it gets. Don't ever think anything was your fault. It's not."

"Shut up," Tails hissed, considerably surprising her, as she honestly thought she was making headway with him. "You have no right talking about Cosmo. Nothing you say is going to make it right."

He began advancing toward her, making her a little nervous.

"I was the one who had to endure all that pain because nothing would convince her to come back to the ship."

Mere inches from her, he stopped. Rouge, who remained in place, squinted, waiting for him to either slap or punch her.

"I was the one that had to fire that shot and watch her die. That's why I can't take this gun. I thought I could, but I can't. Not after that."

Rouge was a little relieved that he didn't pursue what she thought he really wanted to do, as she would've easily been able to defend herself, but perturbed that conflict amongst teammates wasn't going to accomplish anything.

She knew that going up against a garrison of trained military personnel without any weapon was suicide. She wouldn't be able to fend them off for long if they opened fire. She needed her comrades to have firepower.

"I can't force you to take the gun, Tails," she explained, remaining steadfast in her stance, though she still had to look down at the small fox despite his maturing, just not as much. "But ask yourself why you still cringe in the darkness of the unknown, afraid to be as courageous as she was. She knew what she had to do, and it had to have scared the living hell out of her. But she faced her fear because she knew the ones she loved were in dire trouble. She cared enough to sacrifice herself so that others could survive. Can you say the same thing?"

Tails stared at her for a moment, and then sheepishly looked away, chewing on her words as she walked by.

Again, he looked at the gun. He could almost hear Cosmo's voice beckoning him.

"Don't be afraid, Tails," it echoed through his mind.

"Rouge?" he softly asked, causing her to stop. "Haven't you ever been afraid?"

"Yeah, I admit it," she confessed, a smile small emerging as she turned. "I may put off like I don't, but inside, I do. Eggman never really intimidated me, but zigzagging through laser beams and battling his robots kinda unnerved me at times. I knew if I was careless just one little bit, I'd get fried or worse. But worse than that would be motherhood."

She looked up toward Knuckles, who was perched atop a cliff beside Sonic.

"So is that what was bugging you back there a minute ago?" Tails asked, noting the change in her demeanor as soon as she looked up at the echidna. "Him?"

His tone told her that that should've been the last thing she could let get under her skin, but she couldn't help. That muscle-bound dork helped create life, albeit in a non-planned way that was supposed to be only a guise. He promised to help out, which he did at times, but his priorities seemed to revolve more around the master emerald, guarding it at all other times when he wasn't involved with the team and its occasional thwarting of an evil copycat's scheme.

She wanted to try and make things work out for the sake of Sapphire, as her growing up without really getting to know her father wasn't exactly what she wanted, despite her episodes of cold heartedness she'd delivered unto unsuspecting victims before. She was cold and cruel, but not that much. Not only that, those feelings had all but withered away once she began raising her child.

The whole thing made her shudder, because she never fathomed becoming dependent on anyone else but herself. Perhaps not totally dependent, but a little assistance never hurt.

She looked over toward Tails, who patiently awaited her answer. She knew that she and Knuckles had had their spats with him present, so to tell him that it was him that bothered her would just make things a little more complicated.

"Nah. I just miss Sapphy," she said, confident that she didn't feed him a lie. It was true; she did miss her daughter, but that stupid little nagging feeling of not trying to mend things with Knuckles ate at her, too. "That's all."

Tails wrinkled his mouth, not really buying into her reasons for being bummed out, but after the way she had pretty much slapped him back into reality, it would do for now. There were just far too important matters at hand.

"Well, whatever," Tails said with a reassuring smile before noticing Sonic tapping his foot atop a jagged rock and shrugging his shoulders as if to ask what the hell was taking the two so long. "Guess we'd better get up there before Sonic has a conniption."

Through two large circles that zoomed in on the side of the base, Rouge could see two men patrolling one of the larger buildings surrounded by a fence that had succumbed to years of natural abuse.

"Two patrolmen on the north wall," Rouge explained as she held the binoculars up against her eyes. "Probably some more on the south wall. Both armed with semis."

"Semis?" Sonic asked, squinting to see what their weapon-savvy ally could see.

"Semi-automatic rifles."

Sonic whistled, as if impressed.

"Boy, these boys don't like to play nice, do they?"

"Nope."

She moved her eyesight over a little, and sighed, as she noticed more guards perched atop surrounding buildings.

"But I'm a little confused as to why they have snipers on the roofs. They're waiting for something."

"Or someone," Sonic murmured, tapping his chin with his finger.

Rouge immediately looked up at the hedgehog, confused. "Us?"

"Probably. Which way are they facing?"

"Toward the main entrance, which is on the south side of the base. They're back a ways, which makes me believe they're using high-calibers so that they can have a better range."

"Eggman's gotta be down there. He knows that we know he's got our chaos emeralds, so he's telling whoever's in charge to be ready for us. Well, for me, anyway."

Knuckles, who had tried to be as patient as he could, couldn't wait any longer.

"Then what in the world are we still doing up here, then?" he griped, motioning with his arms. "We should've been in and out of there with our emeralds already!"

"Yeah, and you would've been dead already," Tails added. "Rouge is right about those guys down there. Their aim is a lot better than Eggman's crackpot pieces of metal."

The echidna snorted, cast a dubious glare to former G.U.N. agent, and then shook his head.

"And you believed her? Don't forget who you're talking to, Tails. She's a deceiver. You two give the humans a lot more credit that they're good for. Eggman's human, and he's the one that built those pieces of junk. So what makes the difference if it's a robot with crappy aim, or the human himself with crappy aim, eh? None."

"But, Knuckles—"

"But nothing, Tails! She's a liar and a deceiver. She's going to do nothing but get us all killed while she walks away with her precious little gems again."

Rouge's mouth fell agape at the echidna's last comment as Sonic rushed over and got in Knuckles' face.

"You just don't know when to shut up, do you?" he growled, poking his finger right in the middle of the half-moon mark upon Knuckles' chest. "Your blabbering is about as worthless as ever. She's here to help us get the emeralds back, and that's that. I believe in her because she's gone through hell and back just to be here right now to set things right. You spew your garbage like you know everything. Well, you know what? You don't!"

A sarcastic smirk emerged on the echidna's mouth.

"She's got you duped, too, Sonic. She's got you all wrapped around her little finger with her sob story of how much she suffered. Boo-hoo!"

The last straw Sonic had come down to finally snapped, and to the shock and dismay to both Tails and Rouge, he drew back and slugged Knuckles squarely in the jaw, immediately sending him to the ground.

For a moment, the echidna sat shell-shocked, wiping away a small trickle of blood that seeped from the corner of his mouth, before the smirk came back.

"Now you see what she's done to us all," he said, pointing at Sonic. "She's turned friend against friend. Next it'll be you and your little fox friend going toe-to-toe because of her."

"Shut up!" roared Sonic, clinching his fists even tighter. "Just shut up! At least she's accepted what she did in the past and moved on! You, on the other hand, cling to that one event that's pissed you off, and bring everyone else down with your own little 'woe-is-me' drama. I've seen first hand what she's gone through, and it's not pretty. She and her daughter are damn lucky to be alive right now because her apartment was reduced to rubble from guys like these. She didn't have to be here, but she sacrificed a lot so that she could help bring back what is rightfully ours."

The smirk gradually disappeared as Sonic continued to explain the travesties the former agent had gone through, right up to the point where she had confessed to Sonic that Sapphire should know who her father is, and that Rouge wanted to tell him instead of hiding in the shadows.

"That's right, Knuckles. She could've taken off to where no one would ever hear from her again, and you never would've known you even had a daughter. But she felt it was necessary for you to know who Sapphire was, and risked everything to ensure that that happened."

Everyone could tell that Sonic's outburst hit the echidna's heart and soul about as hard as the uppercut to the jaw, as Knuckles could only look at Rouge in dismay, confusion, and guilt.

"We've all sacrificed something to be where we are now. So, we either do this as a team, or we don't do it at all, and let Eggman win. We three have moved on, are you ready to yet?"

The echidna began looking at all three who were transfixed on him, awaiting his statement to remain loyal.

"You two are making a big mistake in trusting her," he scoffed, rising to his feet and wiping his jaw again. "A big mistake. Sonic, I will help you this one time in retrieving the emeralds, but once we are home, I will continue to treat you as a trespasser if you so much as set foot on Angel Island ever again. The same goes for you two, too."

Stubborn and hardheaded as usual, the echidna glared at the three before dashing over the precipice toward the base.

"Well, there goes our surprise," Tails said, breaking the awkward silence.

Sonic watched the echidna charging blindly toward the base, slowly migrating more toward the main entrance. He hated parting with his competitive ally in the manner in which they separated, as he was good as dead trying to charge into a heavily guarded base without so much as a plan or a weapon.

"That'll surely draw the guards toward the main entrance, which will likely allow us clearance to the rear entrance," the hedgehog said remorsefully, but held his optimism together somewhat. "He's tough, so here's hoping his confidence holds up. Let's move out."

As he walked by Rouge, who could only stand and watch her daughter's father rush into potential death, he patted her shoulder and apologized.

"Don't be, Sonic," Rouge said with an uncomfortable sharpness to it. "He's an adult. He chose to do what he did."

Her shift in demeanor took the hedgehog by surprise, as he wasn't quite sure how to interpret her words.

"You don't care?" he asked, still taken aback by her apparent lack of care.

"I never said I didn't care, Sonic," she said, casually reaching into the satchel to pluck out the remaining headsets. "But he does what he does. I've told him many times before that his rashness is going to get him killed. Whether or not he listens to me is up to him."

Sonic was left speechless at the ex-thief's crassness, as all he could do was just look at her in awe and disgust.

"Don't look at me like that, Sonic. You know it's the truth. I never said that he would actually get himself killed, you know. That, and he's not as stupid as he might look sometimes."

"What makes you say that?" Sonic finally said, now a little curious as to why she was suddenly defending him, albeit haphazardly.

She held up the three headsets in one hand, and held the satchel upside down to prove a point she was about to make.

"Because there are only three headsets."

Sonic smirked as he peered back over the ledge, toward the base entrance, where Knuckles had disappeared from sight.

"Cunning little asshole, isn't he?" Rouge said, also peering down while jamming a fully loaded cartridge into her gun. "Let's move."

* * *

It was just as they had hoped for as they neared the rear section of the base, as not a soul was to be found anywhere. Even under the remaining light of the failing sun, their undiscovered approach was with relative ease, perhaps a misleading ease.

The three managed to find cover amongst a small cove of trees suited for extremely long periods of dry weather, as their long and thin branches sprouted many leaves that looked almost like plastic with a waxy coating. Nonetheless, it provided fair coverage, but allowed for a good look at how they would infiltrate the run down area.

Sonic scanned the buildings within eyesight, noting that the lack technology would definitely make things easier for him in terms of finding cover without having to jump over laser sensors, avoid motion detectors, and best of all, not having to outrun those crazy cameras mounted with lasers again.

"So what's the plan?" Tails whispered as he took out a small device resembling a Blackberry© and ran a program that would pick up the signals from the homing devices he had installed into the fake emeralds as he created them.

"Just like last time we were at a place like this, buddy," Sonic replied with a thumbs up. "I'll take to the air shafts while you two take care of any security risks that might come along."

"My guess is that they'll probably use one of the underground labs inside the main building, which will obviously be the largest," Rouge added, adjusting her headset. "Use these sparingly, as I'm sure whoever is in here will have some sort of audio scrambler that'll pick up our radio frequencies in no time."

She looked toward the dilapidated fence that bowed and dipped from years of abuse from nature, rusted apart in several sections.

"I wonder what did happen here?" she asked, but was cut short as a muffled chorus of gunfire echoed from the front.

"Guess they noticed him," Sonic said, "Guess it's now or never. Cover me!"

Though moot to try and cover the world's fastest hedgehog, the two obliged and aimed toward specific spots near the fencerow where Sonic had darted through, following once he was in.

Tails took refuge behind a small storage building as another hail of gunfire ripped across the sky, thankfully, far away from him. He happened to notice Sonic standing next to an external air duct protruding from the ground, waving.

He motioned toward the duct, then suddenly backed into a stance as an armed soldier approached, his rifle aimed at the hedgehog's head.

But no sooner did he arrive, did he suddenly lurch forward as a puff of red explode from his back, and fall dead on the ground.

Perched atop another small building was Rouge, the barrel of her gun smoking.

"Now we're even, Sonic," she said, as Sonic waved his appreciation, and disappeared into the shaft.

Stealthily, she floated down onto the ground and made her way to where Tails was still crouching, his eyes alive with shock.

"You-you killed that man!" he gasped, unable to comprehend what had just happened, and how casual she seemed.

"He was going to kill Sonic," she said, eyeing her surroundings, knowing her gunshot had to have been heard by others. "Now, we've got to move out and find those emeralds. You've got the frequency, right?"

Tails only stared at the dead man lying face first in the hot dirt.

"Tails?"

"Y-yeah," he stammered, and followed Rouge as they headed toward a side entrance into the main building.

* * *

Down, down, down did Sonic slide on the smooth metal of the airshaft, which was in remarkably good condition despite being left untouched for decades. And as last time he was sliding down an airshaft, he landed hard on his behind.

"Ouch," he mumbled, rubbing his rear end, "You'd think I'd have learned a better way to navigate these things by now."

He lowered the red-tinted lens and looked down the length of the shaft, expecting to see hundreds of lasers line the narrow passageway like bars in a prison cell. Instead, his assumption proved right, as there were none.

But as he began crawling toward the light that shone through the vent, he heard a familiar voice getting closer: Eggman's.

"I knew it," he mumbled, peering down through the vent onto the portly genius and his enormously large orange moustache, as well as another individual donning a military uniform. "But who's that other guy? Craddock?"

Eggman suddenly stopped and cocked his head, as if he had heard what Sonic had said.

"Did you hear that?" he said, looking up to the ceiling.

"Hear what?" Craddock said, also looking up at the ceiling, but not with nearly the same enthusiasm.

"I swore I heard something coming from the air duct."

Sonic leaned away from the light, letting a curse word softly escape from his lips so that only he could hear it.

"Eggy, this old base has got all sort of ping, pangs, and clanks to it. It's probably just some wind getting through the ducts again. Besides, now that your little blue friend is here, we can take care of him once and for all now, only if he isn't dead already."

Muffled gunfire rumbled softly above, startling Sonic a little.

"Is that why your sharpshooters are still firing at him?" Eggman said in a sharp sarcastic tone.

Craddock sneered at his partner-in-crime, but knew he was right. His men should've taken down the hedgehog already.

"Suffice it to say that my men are having some difficulty," he retorted with a gruff tone, "There is always a plan 'B'."

"Plan B?" Eggman asked, doubtfully crossing his arms.

Craddock motioned toward two guards that had been following them, unbeknownst to Eggman, who came forward, carrying a woman by her arms, as her wheelchair had been taken from her.

"This would be Plan B," Craddock said with a grin.

"Helen Thorndike?" Eggman said, surprised. "This wasn't part of the plan!"

Helen! Sonic thought as he saw her lazily bring her head up, bruised from where she had been apparently beaten. She looked up into the vent where Sonic was perched, her eyes sagging with fatigue, but coming alive as she saw his eyes staring back at her.

She let a snicker escape.

"And what, might I ask, is funny?" Craddock spat, walking over and grabbing her hair, making her yelp slightly.

"You'll never beat Sonic," she said. "He'll see right through your little trap, and then he'll kill you. You, too, Eggman."

Eggman looked over to her, as if interested.

"Dear child," Craddock said, stroking her greasy hair, "Shall I send you back to the Onyx again? I'm certain you don't want that, do you?"

The mere mention of the word 'Onyx' made her shake her head fearfully.

"That's what I thought. Now, if you can keep your mouth shut for a little longer, you'll get to see your sell-out husband of yours. Heck, you might even get to see your little hero one more time before we make light work of him."

The general laughed heartily and walked away, the two guards dragging Helen along the ground as she began crying out her apologies to Sonic.

Eggman stayed behind, watching Helen for a moment before looking up to the ceiling one last time, and then walking away.

Sonic leaned down and placed his ear on the vent, waiting until he heard no other sound except for intermittent gunshots muffled by the walls.

Slowly, he removed the metal vent and hung from the ceiling, scanning the hallways for any cameras before landing on the ground.

"Tails," Sonic whispered into the headset. "Tails, come in."

"What is it, Sonic?" Tails' voice scratched in the hedgehog's ears.

"Tails, they've got Helen. They think Knuckles is me, and they're bringing her up as a hostage. Where are you and Rouge?"

"We're inside the main building now."

He heard Rouge's voice in the background, exclaiming that she just saw them pass by.

"Yeah, we just saw them. We'll get her."

"You sure? Eggman's in the group."

"Eggman doesn't concern me anymore. You go get the emeralds. We'll meet back at the cliff in a few hours."

Sonic trusted his comrade, but this was something entirely different than just freeing someone from a makeshift prison inside one of Eggman's bases. But he had to get the emeralds back. The fate of the earth was at hand if Eggman would happen to nab all seven emeralds, even if it meant having to sacrifice Chris' wife.

The whole ordeal started to make Sonic feel sick to his stomach.

"Hang in there, Helen," he whispered as he turned and ran down the hallway from which Craddock and Eggman had come from. "I'll get these emeralds, and then I'll come back for you. I promise you that."

He knew he had to find a secluded spot first to report back to Tails and ask where the source of the fake emeralds' frequency was located, and the dark room behind the lone door at the end of the hallway seemed a perfect spot.

Slowly, he turned the knob while looking behind him to make sure no one had followed. One uncomfortable click later, he made his way into the dark room.

"Tails," he whispered again. "Tails, can you hear me?"

Only static replied.

"Great. Human technology at its finest."

As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he noticed a dim, pulsating light emanating from an adjacent room.

"Hello, what do we have behind door number two?"

Again, slow because of the darkness and what might be lurking in the unknown room, Sonic crept along the wall until he poked half of his head around the frame, scanning the room.

While there were no guards around, he did find a large machine that resembled a large alternator found within the guts of a car's engine, numerous tubes and wires protruding from it to what looked like a large aquarium where the same shadowy figure lay in the middle, apparently asleep.

Resting comfortably inside glass containers were the missing chaos emeralds, pulsating as they reacted with each other, along with the fakes that had successfully done their job.

"Wow, convenient," Sonic said with a wry smile as he approached the intimidating machine.

But he couldn't help but eye the dormant creature that had been left in the shadows, hooked up to the industrial nightmare.

"So, you must be the Onyx, eh?" he said, plucking the emeralds out of their containers. "I didn't expect you to be an actual living thing. Then again, you may not."

The figure stirred, as if having heard what Sonic had said.

"Trust me, you won't miss these."

But before he turned to leave with the emeralds, the figure suddenly began making a strange noise, as if trying to say something.

"Fsh-sh-sh-shuso" it mumbled in gibberish, rising to its knees.

Sonic stared at the figure bathed in darkness, trying to decipher what it was trying to say.

"Sh-sh-sss-sssonnn"

Carefully, he stepped toward the terrarium, as if the voice had a strange familiarity to it.

"Ssssonnni-"

And then Sonic had to catch his breath, as the figure rose its feet and finally belted out what it had wanted to say.

"SONIC!"

Without so much as a single shred of remorse, Sonic dropped the emeralds, gasping for air as the familiarity of the voice that had just spoken his name had come from the grave.

As if guided by an unknown force, he charged toward the glass prison at full speed, crashing through and landing on the other side, scrambling to get to his feet and toward the frightened creature, who cowered to the ground as Sonic grabbed its shoulders, moving to the ground with it, and to the only dim spot of light that was allowed.

It was in this light that he saw the figure's hair: pink.

"My God," Sonic gasped, choking on his words that ultimately failed him.

He had found Amy.

* * *

I'll bet many fans are relieved now... :)

* * *


	12. Chapter 12

Sonic and all other various Sonic The Hedgehog characters are Copyright SEGA, Sonic Team, TMS Entertainment, and all other asso

Sonic and all other various Sonic The Hedgehog characters are Copyright SEGA, Sonic Team, TMS Entertainment, and all other associations affiliated with the Sonic X anime/manga. All other characters belong to their rightful owner (me) and have no similarities with above-said characters whatsoever. Names used for other characters are random. Any people bearing the real name, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

* * *

Sorry for the delay in getting this chapter up. My job's been insanely hectic as we are continuing to migrate everything from the old server to an IIS server. It's been painful and slow. However, I was able to get this prepared. I'm just dragging out the inevitable reunion between Sonic and Amy, so don't hate me too much. :)

* * *

12

"You two!" Craddock ordered as he heard the gunfire from his troops searching for the both welcome and unwelcome visitor getting louder and louder as he neared the front entrance. "Stay back while we introduce ourselves to our little blue friend. When I give the signal, you bring her out, unharmed."

He squinted as he peered out a window that allowed sunlight swirled with dust and dirt to cascade down to the floor, surveying the unfolding situation. Troops were scurrying back and forth, as if under fire themselves.

Craddock sneered at the incompetence.

"Fucking trained professionals can't even kill a Goddamn hedgehog," he scoffed angrily at the lackadaisical efforts before him, scraping his fingernails down the doorframe in frustration. "Eggman, I think I've seen enough. Get the Goddamn girl."

"Get the girl?" Eggman questioned. "Sir, with all due respect, the last thing we need to do is bring her out while they're still shooting at nothing. Remember that Chris is with us right now. We take his little girlfriend back in one piece; he sells us more chaos emeralds down in the future until we have all seven. He's already proven to us that he's a sell-out, so let's not botch anything with haste."

Craddock turned, and with a sneer, grabbed Eggman's overcoat.

"How about I run my own base and you shut the hell up unless I ask for your worthless advice, 'Doctor'?" he mocked, his face reddening with intensifying anger that was quickly reaching its boiling point.

Eggman sneered back. No one had ever spoken to him in such a crude and disrespectful manner before without suffering some sort of consequence.

"We are accomplishing nothing by us bickering," Eggman shot back defiantly. "I suggest you unhand me now."

The sneer on the Craddock's face slowly grew into a mocking smile.

"Or what?"

A similar look of defiant confidence emerged on Eggman's face as he reached into his pocket and pulled out something that looked like an ink pen.

"Or I make your life's work a worthless pile of junk with one click."

Craddock immediately acknowledged the fact that his counterpart had concocted a detonator that was remotely attached to a destruct mechanism built into the Onyx machine. One click, and Eggman's words would come true. He released his hold.

Anger bubbled throughout the general's body as he clenched his fists. Oh, how he wanted Eggman dead with his lame attempt to gain control of the situation. If he only had the same smarts as the man that now laughed in his face, he'd reduce his head to jelly with one swift move.

But he didn't. He needed him to complete his dream of making the nation he loved the most feared nation in the entire world, and he, its new leader.

Defeated, his shoulders dropped. He felt humiliated for now, but knew he'd get back at the portly man dressed in the gaudy red overcoat. He'd just have to be patient until the time was right.

"All right, Eggman," he said, raising his hands as if to try and calm down. "All right. This bickering is nonsense, like you said. Let's just go out there and use another plan to get this hedgehog out of our life once and for all."

He began to laugh, making Eggman a little nervous.

"This little bastard's made us all go crazy with frustration, y'know? Sorry I jumped your butt."

Eggman was crestfallen. A man of so much political and military prowess apologizing to him seemed unreal. Yet, it was happening. He looked at his outstretched hand for a second before grabbing it and shaking.

The general's handshake was as strong as it was the first time he had promised to work alongside him. He was definitely an intimidating presence.

"Well, general," Eggman stumbled, trying to find the right words to define his courage, but also trying to cover the obvious fear he had felt in standing up to his superior that could easily snuff him out with one simple command, "It's all in the past now. Let's just move on and not waste any more time, shall we?"

A political smile filled with broken promises flashed on Craddock's face, as he knew his trust with Eggman had been renewed as fast as it had been threatened earlier.

"Right," he said. "Now, Eggman, what do you think we should do about this Sonic fellow? My men are your men, too."

As the two comrades conversed about a plan for the blue hedgehog's demise just a few feet ahead of the two men that stood at attention with Helen tightly held, a pair of orange ears frazzled with a bit of fur at the tips slowly protruded around the corner.

"Sonic was right, Rouge!" he whispered excitedly. "I can hear Eggman and that other guy talking about something about Sonic. I can't make it out, though."

"Craddock," Rouge confirmed with a whisper, her gun drawn up to her shoulder. "I should've known better than to assume he would just up and kill himself to preserve a secret he wanted to keep."

"Are you sure it's him?"

"I'd bet my last jewels on it. Anyone else out there?"

Slowly, Tails, again, poked his head around the side of the wall and immediately noticed Helen's limp body being held by her arms by the two guards that stood a few feet behind their superiors.

He quickly jerked his head back around, allowing Rouge to comprehend the story his facial expression told.

"Tails?" she asked, curious and a little concerned. "What did you see?"

"Two guards just on the other side," Tails gasped, his eyes wide with the surprise he had seen. "They've got Helen, and she's not in very good shape."

A slight frown folded Rouge's eyelids as she tried to make a connection to such a familiar name.

Helen, she thought as her eyes darted to and fro, as if hoping to find the answer lying somewhere on the floor. Helen.

"Where have I heard that name before?" she asked.

"She was one of Chris's classmates at his school," Tails replied, uncomfortably fidgeting with his scanner.

While that didn't do much to help her understand just who Helen was, she did recognize Chris's name immediately.

That's when Rouge made the connection, and one she never dreamed of making.

Her eyes widened. She now knew why there were snipers perched atop the buildings, and how easy it was for them to actually get into the base, despite the overall shape most of the layout was in.

"Oh, shit, Tails," she gasped, clenching her gun tightly.

"What?" Tails said with a gulp, feeling the fear that had grasped his teammate.

"They knew we'd be coming here. They knew all along."

Tails shook his head slightly, not understanding the female bat's theory.

"I'll explain later. Right now, they think they're after Sonic, so we have a little bit of time to get out of here in one piece. I'm just not sure how yet."

Both jumped slightly when the once muffled gunfire from outside suddenly became loud for a moment. Warm air cascaded down the hall and around the corner.

"They must've left," Tails said, leaning over to get another look to see if they were in the clear.

But they weren't, as the two guards stood in their same spot, their hands aggressively clamped around Helen's slender arms that bore multiple contusions and cuts, awaiting their next orders.

"Eggman and Craddock left, but those guards are still there with Helen. What're we going to do?"

Instinctively, Rouge sank down and plucked out a silencer attachment.

"We change our plans a little," she said in a soft, but gruff tone, as she tried to quickly affix the attachment to her pistol. "Sonic will get the emeralds. We get Helen and Knuckles, and get the hell out of here."

Understandably, Tails had become increasingly uncomfortable with the intensifying situation, now exacerbated by Rouge's sudden mood shift from controlled to panicked.

"Rouge," he asked, watching her struggle with the silencer, "What is going on? What makes you think that they knew about us?"

She stopped once she was able to finally tighten the attachment, and sighed softly.

"Because I think Chris told him."

The small fox looked at her with a dumbfounded expression for a moment before shaking his head in disbelief.

"No way. Chris would never do that to us. He's a friend."

Rouge sighed again, knowing how hard it was for Tails to believe anything she said, especially when it was just a theory.

"Believe what you want to, Tails, but they propositioned him. They knew that he used to communicate with Sonic. They knew he had a machine that could open a portal between our world and his. They knew he and Helen must've had a thing between them, and decided that the only way they were going to get the other emeralds was to kidnap her and force him into meeting whatever their demands were."

Tails slowly lowered his head, trying hard to convey what was being said. None of it made sense to him; he didn't want it to make sense. Chris would never betray his friends. Never.

"If what you're saying is true, Rouge, then why didn't he say anything to us, his friends?" he asked.

"I don't know. Maybe it was because he thought they'd do something to her, perhaps kill her. Maybe he figured we'd be able to handle ourselves better than he could, even if Eggman knew we were on our way to get the real emeralds. If we knew Helen was here, and we went straight to her, they would've picked up on it immediately and would've probably killed her. Who knows?"

She could see the building frustration emerging on the two-tailed fox's face. She knew her words were hard to stomach, granted they were even true to begin with. But she felt strongly about her theory. Everything seemed too coincidental for it not to be true.

"Listen to me, Tails," she continued, "Right now, we can't sit here and bitch about who did what. We need to free Helen, get the emeralds, and get out of here. We'll try to figure everything else out later. Understand?"

Tails reluctantly nodded in approval, but it was obvious that his heart was broken over the thought that his friend had possibly betrayed him.

"You let me take care of these guys. You can sweep in and get Helen out of here. Ready?"

Tails glanced down at the gun neatly nestled into its holster.

"Tails, there's not much time left. Are you ready?"

With another nod that bore little confidence, Rouge took a deep breath and slithered around the corner.

"Howdy, boys," she said in a mocking manner, aiming her gun. "Remember me?"

Both guards and Helen jerked their heads around, surprised. But before they could react, they were cut down with two precision shots to their chest. Helen yelped in fear as her captors crumbled to the floor in a bloody heap.

Immediately, Helen struggled to retreat to the wall, fearing she was next as Rouge approached her, eyeing the guards to make sure they were, in fact, just a memory.

"You're safe now, Helen," Rouge said, kneeling down beside the terrified woman.

Her eyes darted toward the dead guards and back to Rouge as she tried to make sense of the intense situation that just took place. But while the situation itself never took root, she managed to recognize her rescuer.

"You—you're that jewel thief, aren't you?" she said between intermittent gasps.

"Used to be, kid," Rouge said, looking over Helen's injuries. "What in God's name did they do to you?"

"I remember seeing Sonic. Is he here?"

"He is," Tails said, appearing from behind the corner.

"Tails!" Helen shrieked, the fear on her face literally washing away once she laid eyes upon the small fox.

As soon as he was close enough, she practically lunged at him with what little strength she had left, and buried him in a bear hug, sobbing uncontrollably as the years of captivity that had all but drained the last ounce of hope from her body finally began to wash away.

Both Tails and Rouge felt helpless as Helen continued to sob, wondering what menacing acts of torture were performed upon the poor girl, and why.

Why would they do this? Rouge wondered as she watched her somewhat compose herself. It was then that the former government spy noticed a very peculiar-looking tattoo on her right bicep.

"Helen?" Rouge asked, gently taking her arm and raising the tattered sleeve to her shirt to unveil the whole tattoo, which turned out to be a bar code. "What is this?"

"I don't know," she said, wiping her eyes. "After I woke up inside my cell, it was just there. I don't even know how or when it got there. All I know is that I'm sure glad to see you two. Does Chris know you're here?"

"Yeah. He does," Tails said as Rouge bit her lip. "In fact, it's because of him that we're here. We just didn't know you were in here until Sonic told us."

Helen seemed lost in thought for a split-second, as if wondering what their real reason was for being at the base. Surely, her husband would have told them.

"You—you didn't?"

"Helen, there's a lot of things we haven't been told that we're finding out." Rouge added, trying to remain confident about her theory. "We came because we knew Eggman and this Craddock fellow had our emeralds, and that we had to stop them before they could do anything bad with them. Chris helped us by pawning off some fake emeralds, and we followed their representative here. I'm only assuming that the reason Chris didn't tell us about you was because he didn't want them to hurt or even kill you in case they found out that not only were we out to get our emeralds back, but also rescue you."

Rouge started to say something about how Chris had also told Craddock and Eggman of they're arrival, but stopped mid-sentence as it would've been too much for Helen to take in her current fragile state of emotion.

"Look, the point is. We're here. We've found you; we're getting you out of here now."

"What about the others?" she asked, pointing back toward the wall.

"Others?" Tails asked with a gulp. "What do you mean 'others'?"

"There were about forty of us or so, but after all the tests they ran, and sending us to the Onyx, there's only ten of us left now, I think."

Tails and Rouge exchanged a look of dread as Helen's last few words sank deep.

"Where are they?" Rouge asked, trying not to imagine what the others looked like based off of Helen's appearance.

"Back toward the back of the building. Probably back in their cells for the night."

Rouge thought for a moment, looking back to where Helen had pointed, then confirmed that she would go back for the others while Tails would lead Helen away from the base, to the rendezvous point.

"But I—" Tails complained, suddenly unsure of his competence.

"But nothing, Tails!" Rouge argued. "Both of us getting killed isn't going to do anything for Sonic and Knuckles, because neither of them know how to pilot the X-Tornado nearly as well as you do, and believe me, you're going to need some skills to get out of here without a scratch once they see what we've done. Get Helen out of here and I'll see you at the meeting spot. Now get--!"

Rouge suddenly lurched as a bullet ripped through her arm, causing Helen to shriek. The former agent fell to the floor clutching her arm as the guard who had survived grimaced as he began preparing to fire another round, his good hand barely able to keep his rifle balanced while his other hand was haphazardly covering the bleeding gunshot wound in his chest.

Tails froze in place, unable to hear Rouge's cries for him to shoot back, unable to comprehend everything that had happened, and what was happening around him.

"Tails! Shoot!" she yelled again, struggling to get to her pistol that had flown from her hand after she had been shot. "Goddamnit, shoot!"

By sheer luck did the guard miss, as he had fallen off balance when he fired again, perhaps weakening from the loss of blood oozing between his fingers.

An opportunity had somehow found its way to Rouge, and she took full advantage of it by scooping up her gun, turning, and firing a round that found its mark into the guard's shoulder, but he remained on his feet, grimacing as he slowly raised his rifle to put an end to Rouge's life before she would end his.

She fired again and again, sometimes missing, and sometimes hitting the man that could somehow manage to endure the onslaught until all that was left were clicks.

"Tails!" she cried out again, struggling to get another cartridge out of her accessory belt as the man lumbered toward her, weakening from the loss of blood, but still donning a face that reeked of hatred. "Tails, for God's sake, do something!"

The small fox remained frozen in place, petrified by fear. He looked upon Rouge, who continued to retreat while practically begging him to cut down the seemingly indestructible guard. He, then, cast his eyes upon Helen, who had managed to crawl away by her arms. She was sobbing uncontrollably at the unfolding situation, perhaps fearing that her own death would be coming much sooner than she had anticipated.

A sense of anger and resentment began to burn through the two-tailed fox's body, seeing his friends on the verge of death, begging for him to save them. He swallowed hard, choked back the fear that held him in its icy vise.

Cosmo's words faintly echoed through his mind.

"Don't be afraid."

Tails grit his teeth and swiftly pulled his gun out of its holster, cast a vengeful glare toward the injured soldier, and began firing until he, too, had exhausted his magazine.

The guard was now dead, riddled with holes that bled profusely upon the floor that once used to be of ivory white, but Tails continued to let his vengeance control him, pistol-whipping the bloody corpse until Rouge finally pulled him off.

"Tails, he's dead!" she yelled, struggling to keep him under control as the last of his rage finally freed itself from his body. "He's dead."

For a moment, he could only stare back at his ally before his thoughts finally came around, and he began shaking at the realization of what he had done. Slowly, he looked down at his gun, now tinted red with the dead man's blood, and watched a lone drop dangle lazily on the end of the barrel before cascading down to the fox's once white shoes that also bore a haunting reminder.

He felt Rouge's breath upon his neck, rapid, but warm, as she, too, was trying to calm down after having endured the brutal gunfight. Though he'd never felt any type of feeling for her, especially since her trustworthiness was next to nonexistent, the way she had her arms draped over him to try and contain his anger that had boiled over uncontrollably felt nice. It was almost motherly, in a way.

He felt his composure return.

"Okay, Rouge," he said after taking a deep breath. "I'm okay now."

But as he looked down to untangle her fingers from around him, he noticed the blood that had seeped from her wound.

"Rouge, your arm!"

"Yeah, I know," she said, surprisingly nonchalant about the angry-looking wound. "Think you can help me out with this?"

Tails spared no hesitation, and helped his former rival tear off one of her sleeves, wrapping it around her arm to try and stop the bleeding.

Rouge glanced over to Helen, who had buried her face in her hands, her nerves obviously obliterated by the haunting sequence of events.

"You okay over there, kid?"

She offered no reply of her own, and, instead, began to sob as Rouge quickly figured out that she was in bad shape. The former militant practically leapt to her side.

"Listen to me, Helen," she explained, draping her good arm over her back. "It's over now. We're getting you out of this place once and for all. Everything will be fine now."

Her words seemed to have comforted her, albeit barely, as she slowly lifted her head and allowed her two rescuers to see what her days of captivity had done to her both mentally and physically.

"You say it like it's nothing," she hissed between gasps. "Like I've got the common cold. You don't know what I went through. You don't know the hell I had to face when they sent me to that monster. I'd sit and I'd pray to die just so that I wouldn't have to face it anymore, but to Craddock…he'd say that that was just a coward's way out. I told him that if was the coward's way out, then his way out would make a coward laugh."

Her words stung, but Rouge understood why she was lashing out. It was just a part of the healing process in which the captor often thinks they had been left for dead, or simply forgotten because of the seemingly impossible situation.

After a moment of recollection and composure, Helen realized that her sharp-tongued words were uncalled for, her head drooping in shame.

"Rouge, I'm sorry," she said, beginning to softly sob again. "It's just been so hard here, you know. I never dreamed I'd find myself in this situation."

Rouge leaned her head against Helen's shoulder as her past began seeping through her thoughts: her days as a jewel thief, as a G.U.N. agent, as an ally with Eggman at one time, as a mother-to-be.

"That's the understatement of the year," she said, closing her eyes to try and erase her memories for a while. "But it's all over now."

"I don't mean to interrupt, but we're running out of time here, guys," Tails said. "They're going to find out that they've been running a wild goose chase after the wrong person, and when they do, they're not going to be happy about it. So we've got to get moving, and fast."

"Right," Rouge said, trying to lift Helen, but wincing in obvious pain. "You get Helen out of here while I go get the others."

"Rouge, no," Tails replied with a very determined shake of his head. "You're in no shape to get the others. I'll go get them."

"Tails, you're the only one who can fly the X-Tornado out of here. Like you said, they're going to be pissed once they know they've after Knuckles instead of Sonic, and they're going to be firing everything they've got at you."

Tails frowned in frustration, unwilling to accept her request.

"You can pilot, too."

"Not as good as you."

"Damn it, Rouge! You're not going back, and that's final!"

Not paying any attention to his continuing pleas for her to not go through with her rescue plan, she draped Helen's arm over his shoulder, as she looked on in dismay.

"Please, Ms. Rouge," Helen pleaded, "Don't go. Tails is right, you're hurt."

She continued to ignore them, plucking out the cartridge she couldn't get to earlier and jamming it into her pistol.

"Rouge, you'll be killed!" Tails cried.

For a moment, the clichéd prediction nestled itself into her thoughts. Sure, she could be killed, but not by a bunch of clumsy humans that dared to call themselves soldiers. One had gotten lucky when she wasn't looking, but that would certainly be the last time.

Then again, it was the fact that she wasn't looking that bothered her. What if it happened again, only this time, the bullet would find its mark? She'd never see her daughter again.

Then again, she could leave the world as a hero and not as an untrustworthy soul incapable of giving a damn about anyone. She did care, though the way she showed wasn't exactly the politically correct way.

She began wondering the worth of it all, and easily came up with an answer: She could help save the world and her daughter from inevitable destruction if Craddock and Eggman continued their paths.

She took a long breath, and cocked the gun.

"Maybe, but if I do fall, it will be defending the things that mean the most to me."

Tails frown dissipated into a look of despair.

"But, Rouge…"

"Tails, please. I know what I want to do."

The fox's shoulders sank in defeat, as did Helen's. They knew their words were going to do nothing.

"C'mon guys, give me a little bit of confidence here. I didn't say I _was_ going to die. I'm not that easy to write off, you know, banged up arm or not. I'll be fine, and I'll see you at the rendezvous point."

Reluctantly, Tails nodded and turned with Helen's arms draped over his neck. But before he could leave, Rouge wanted to leave on a more positive note.

"Hey, Tails," she said, "Thanks."

Tails lifted an eyebrow, as if wondering what she was thanking him for.

"For believing in me."

A small smile broke through his despair. Her confidence seemed to never waver.

"And saving my ass. See you back at the Tornado. Now get moving!"

She winked before flapping her wings and flying off around the corner in search of the other captives.

Tails stood for a moment longer, his smile fading back into despair, as he wondered if he would ever see her again.


	13. Chapter 13

Sonic and all other various Sonic The Hedgehog characters are Copyright SEGA, Sonic Team, TMS Entertainment, and all other associations affiliated with the Sonic X anime/manga. All other characters belong to their rightful owner (me) and have no similarities with above-said characters whatsoever. Names used for other characters are random. Any people bearing the real name, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

13

"S-Sonic?" Amy gasped, looking up at Sonic's face that held the same shock and dismay as hers, in a state of shock from the sudden turn of events. "Is that you?"

"Yes!" Sonic emphatically replied, still trying to fathom what he had found. "Is that you, Amy? Is it really you?"

"I—guess so."

And for that one fleeting moment, the ridiculous notion that anyone could ever rise from the grave had become a hard fact, its accompanying speculation replaced by an intense, sweeping wave of jubilation and relief that the unknown and the assumed had tried keep locked away in a world of secrecy.

"You're alive," Sonic said, caressing Amy's cheeks with his thumbs as her emotions began to spill over. "My God, you're alive!"

In only a second time that he could remember, he began to weep as Amy fell forward into his chest, secured by his arms that she had obviously missed for so long, as did he.

"I've found you, Amy."

And as they wept together, letting the heartache that had belied them both disappear with each falling teardrop, the renewal of how they had felt for each other for so long but was afraid to delve into for fear of rejection from one side or the other began to come alive like a dying flame that finds a piece of dry kindling within grasp.

However, the timing was a little too awkward to already begin planning a relationship. They still had to escape the base.

Slowly, both returned to the present, finally recovered from the shock of their impromptu and unplanned reunion.

"Are you okay?" Sonic asked, wiping his eyes.

"I guess, but look at the mess you've made, Sonic," Amy murmured, still retaining that dry bit of humor she always possessed, even in the most strenuous of times. "Eggman's gonna be pissed at you."

A smile grew on Sonic's face as he helped Amy to her feet, but it was feigned as he noticed how different she looked from when she had disappeared.

Gone was her long hair, replaced by a much, much shorter buzz to go along with her more muscular, and leaner, build. Gone, also, was her traditional garb, replaced with a skintight outfit that was as black as the darkness that surrounded their tiny spotlight they stood in, courtesy of the chaos emeralds Sonic had previously dropped.

But even more noticeable were the energy rings she wore around her wrists. They were not the normal color of gold, but of the same black that had an eerie shine to them. The mere appearance of them sent an uncomfortable shiver up Sonic's spine, though he simply ignored it for the time being, as there were far more important things to focus on.

"When isn't he?" Sonic said, returning to the subject at hand.

"Right," Amy replied. "So I think it's best we get out of—"

She suddenly stumbled, closing her eyes as Sonic helped keep her balanced.

"Amy?" Sonic said, concerned.

"Oh, boy, here come the drugs again…" she slurred, her eyes knees wobbling. "Guess that little bit of excitement stirred me for a second."

She slowly crumbled back to the floor.

"Oh, man…did I forget to tell you about the drugs, Sonic?"

"Drugs?" Sonic said, his concern morphing into anger.

He could feel her begin to shake as she held her head, trying to stop the room from apparently spinning.

"Can you walk if I help you out?"

"I don't know, Sonic," Amy mumbled, obviously worsening. "I don't think so."

She moaned softly as the drugs that swam through her system had begun to react with the shot of adrenaline kick-started from the short burst of excitement and shock.

"Eggman…he'll be here any minute…sorry, Sonic, but I can't…"

Her last few words were undecipherable as she fell into a deep sleep.

"Amy?" Sonic said, lightly shaking her to try and keep her awake. "Amy!"

Her head fell limp as light snores began to tickle his ears. He raised her head and looked upon her face.

"Damn it. She's out cold."

He tried using his communicator again to try and let the others know what he had found, but there was still nothing but static.

Still no good, he cursed to himself before glancing over to the emeralds lying on the floor. He didn't really want to use chaos control, as his placement upon reemergence was marginal at best, but at that time, it was the only option they had other than wandering all over the base looking for the way out.

"Sleep tight, Amy. I'm getting you out of here right here, right now. We'll try and figure all of this out tomorrow."

* * *

"You incompetent fools!" Craddock bellowed angrily as he and Eggman approached the small regiment of men scurrying back and forth. "What the hell is going on out here?"

"Sir!" one of the soldiers said, properly saluting his superior. "We can't get a clean shot at him. He's too fast."

Craddock slapped a hand against his face in disgust and frustration as he looked to the sky. The day was beginning to fail, and the last few beams of sunlight now glowed red in the horizon, silhouetting the mountain range so that it now looked like fangs of a terrible monster.

Soon, it would be too dark for even his best sharpshooter to find their target, not that that would've changed anything from the current situation.

"And you idiots call yourselves snipers," Craddock growled, firmly planting his fists into his sides. "This is an embarrassment!"

To his left, he noticed one of his soldiers leaning against the side of a building, his rifle nonchalantly dangling off of his shoulder.

"What the hell is this?" Craddock whined, motioning his displeasure with two outstretched hands as he approached the lazy man that was supposed to be hunting down the blue hedgehog. "Hey!"

He poked the soldier in the shoulder with his bony finger.

Slowly, the soldier turned his head, his hat tipped down as if he had been sleeping on the job.

"Oh, did I interrupt your little nap, soldier?" Craddock said sarcastically, folding his arms like a father would when preparing to scold his son.

"Nah, just my break," the soldier said, much to the chagrin to Craddock, whose face reddened at being disrespected.

Craddock angrily grabbed the neckline of the guard's camouflaged uniform. "What the fuck did you say to me, boy?"

"I said you interrupted my break."

Shocked by the crassness and shallowness of the private that was certainly on his way to the brig, Craddock violently lifted the soldier by the neckline of his outfit, quickly noticing that the pant legs flowed freely in the wind, with no shoes protruding from the bottom.

"What the--?" Craddock said, unable to discern what he had just seen and heard. No one under his command had come off so crude and unrelenting in their behavior in all his years in the military, no one. "What the hell is going on here? Who are you?"

He ripped off the cap, revealing Knuckles' sly grin accompanied by a look of determination that always meant that someone's ass was about to be kicked.

"Take one good guess, buddy."

Before anyone could react, the echidna kicked Craddock in the chest, bouncing off the shocked general and landing only a few feet from a pod of soldiers who scrambled to get their guns aimed on him.

"Kill him!" Craddock yelled, holding his chest as he struggled to get to his feet.

Though the echidna possessed hands as hard as rock, his speed remained fast enough to best the humans' reaction time, kicking and punching each one unconscious before running for cover behind an air ventilation unit as other soldiers began firing.

Eggman, who remained in is place, frowned with displeasure, knowing full well that the echidna had duped him as well as Craddock and all his men. He was just a distraction that had obviously worked.

Sonic was inside, wrecking havoc to his machine and stealing his emeralds. That was his thought, anyway.

"Damn you, Sonic!" Eggman yelled before scurrying back toward the entrance into the base. "Craddock! Ignore that red buffoon! Sonic's inside the base, probably after the emeralds and the Onyx!"

Craddock's mouth fell agape, as his visions of conquest using his ultimate weapon of combat began crumbling.

"You, you, and you, keep that piece of shit cornered!" he ordered three soldiers who were firing at the air vent Knuckles was hiding behind. "Do not let him go, at any cost!"

The soldiers responded and resumed their onslaught of gunfire as Craddock, angrily ripping a walkie-talkie free from his accessory belt, took off after Eggman, yelling orders for his men still inside to track down the hedgehog and eliminate him.

Knuckles, as he dodged the incoming bullets, happened to notice that most of the men had retreated back to the main building, fully aware of what was going on now.

"You owe me big time, Sonic," he murmured, quickly jerking away from a sudden spark that came from a rogue bullet up above, where a sniper who remained in position had spotted him. "Big time."

Using the growths upon his hands, the echidna began to furiously dig into the ground, kicking up a massive cloud of dust that eventually enveloped him, hiding him from the soldiers that instinctively stopped.

The window of opportunity was small, but enough for him to scurry to the front of the air vent and dive in without being hit.

* * *

Rouge carefully poked her head around the corner of the wall that led into another long corridor peppered with inactive cameras and doors to adjoining rooms, hopefully unoccupied.

Sounds of running footsteps seemed to be coming from everywhere, causing her eyes to dart to and fro, wondering if and when her cover would be blown.

Her eyes caught wind of a pair of boots slapping against the floor, nearing her position. She quickly ducked back behind the corner, raising her pistol to her chest, and waited until the boots were practically around the corner from where she stood.

No sooner did two guards round the corner, unaware of their inevitable encounter, did she adroitly kneel down and fire two shots that found their marks in both of the soldiers' necks, dropping them immediately.

One gasped for air as death began creeping up his body, and he looked upon the former government special agent as she began plucking away his magazine cartridges filled with bullets, as well as his rifle, perhaps wondering why it was he that had to die for simply doing his job.

Their eyes met for one last moment before his last gurgling breath of air escaped his lips that were coated with his blood. He was a young man, close to Chris's age.

She looked upon the dead man; a young man, perhaps in his late twenties; practically the same age as Chris. She sighed as she pocketed the magazines and slung the nylon strap attached the rifle over her shoulder, contemplating what she had to do to save herself from being just another victim in whatever ploys Craddock and Eggman had conjured.

She wondered if perhaps the young man she had killed also had a daughter as she did. The thought of one bullet forever changing the lives of two people made her shudder. Then again, a countering thought that the same thing could have happened to her made her actions seem even more necessary.

It was certainly a paradox of emotions she tried hard to not let affect her judgment, but just could not quite shake.

Now she knew why Tails had been so apprehensive. However, time was not on her side, as she heard a few more footsteps echo from another hallway. They were closing in.

She took off down the hallway, hoping that she was headed in the right direction, as asking Helen the exact location of where the other prisoners had prematurely escaped her plans, not that being shot in the arm and on the verge of death had anything to do with it.

She rounded the left corner at the end of the hallway and surprised a lone guard that was leaning against the wall in front of a large grey door that bore no windows, but a large metal locking mechanism that resembled the large barriers warriors would place before their main gates to prevent entry.

He, instinctively, reach for his gun, but wasn't quick enough, as the astute bat delivered a precise kick to his hand that knocked the pistol free, and then another that sent him against the wall.

He quickly rose to one knee, but found the barrel of the rifle literally poking him in the cheek.

He fearfully eyed Rouge, and waited for her to shoot.

"You've got ten seconds to tell me where I'm at, and don't even tell me inside a base, or I immediately reduce your head to jelly," she demanded with a serious sneer.

"Sector G," he stammered, obviously frightened out of his wits. "Prisoner quarters."

Rouge's sneer immediately turned into a smirk.

"Convenient," she said. "Open the door."

Obedient, hoping his cooperation would get him off the hook, the guard quickly slid his cardkey through the electronic lock, which clicked heavily, and opened the thick door.

"Give me your key and get moving."

She kept her rifle pinned to the guard's back as she followed him into the dank, dark room that was easily recognizable as the base's brig. To the left and right were more doors that looked to be of the same thickness as the main entrance, but sporting one small window and small opening for which they could take in trays of food and drink, granted they were given any given the musty smell that stung her eyes.

She stopped him in front of the first door, ordering him to open it.

"You'd best hope whoever is in there is still alive," she warned him, hopefully over exaggerating her initial prediction.

Still, though, Helen had been considerably roughed up by whatever it was the group of militants and scientists stationed there was doing to her. She shuddered at the thought of what she had said about only ten people being left.

The guard slid the key and pulled the door open while Rouge tried to visualize just how many prisoners were actually here.

Rouge gasped as she saw three bodies lying in the corner, emaciated, broken, as another prisoner slowly peered from behind the frame, his sunken eyes staring at the guard, and then to Rouge.

"Dear God," she mouthed, the stench of death that rolled out from the room puckering her nostrils.

The prisoner, donning tattered and torn clothes that looked as if they hadn't been changed in months, stumbled backwards; perhaps knowing another visit to the Onyx was in store for him.

"Fucking bastards!" Rouge hissed, angrily slamming her rifle against the guard's head, sending him to the floor with a sickly thud.

The guard scrambled to the wall, holding his head that now considerably bled from Rouge's vicious blow.

"Aw, Christ," she said, trying to cope with the grisly scene before her. "Hey, you in there. C'mon, I'm getting you out of here."

The prisoner stood in his place, confused, wondering if, perhaps, it was just another trick.

"I'm not with these pricks. I'm here to get you and the others out of here. Now c'mon, we don't have much time."

Reluctantly, the prisoner took a few steps forward, staring at Rouge.

"So what's your name?" she said, trying to reassure the thin man of her intentions, reaching out to him.

"T-Todd," he said nervously, slowly making his way out of the room that he had called home for what seemed forever. "Todd Valaquen."

She grasped his hand and led him out into the hallway, eyeing the guard that still moaned and held a hand to his head.

"Well, Todd, you're free now. Do you know how many others there are?"

He shook his head as he eyed the guard, wanting to add to his pain, but felt too weak for vengeance.

"The others died a few days ago. I don't know about the others."

Rouge took a deep breath as she looked upon the other four doors; the outlook certainly seemed grim. Still, she had to free whoever had survived.

"I'm going to need your help in keeping a gun this guard while I get the others out," Rouge said as she plucked the card from the floor. "Think you can handle it?"

She looked over to him, noticing that he was staring at her; not as if she were a piece of meat the other men would often do, but as if he had never seen a four foot bipedal bat wielding a semiautomatic rifle before.

"Who are you?" he asked, wrinkling an eyebrow.

"You're obviously not from Station Square, are you?" Rouge asked.

The man shook his head, nervous.

"I'm Rouge. Rouge the Bat. There's no need to be nervous, Todd. I'm not going to suck your blood or whatever you humans think. Have you ever heard of Sonic?"

His face suddenly lit up.

"The hedgehog? Yeah!"

Rouge's face curled into a coy smirk. Sure, she thought, _everyone_ knows about him.

"Well, he's here, too. He's a part of this mission."

She could see the relief wash over his sunken-in face, which made the fact that her identity was nonexistent seem moot. She handed him her pistol.

"Keep this on him while I get the others. If he so much as farts, you make him a memory."

The man obliged and eagerly swiped the gun from her hands, immediately pointing it right at the terrified guard's temple. The fact that he had suddenly become so eager unnerved Rouge as she began opening the other doors to the prison cells, but assumed that she, too, would be eager to make someone who had made their life a living hell suffer the same consequences without having the benefit of death free them from torture.

But as she helped the last prisoner out of the cell, the fifth and last of the survivors, a loud bang caused her to yelp.

Todd had shot the guard, killing him.

"Todd! What the hell?" Rouge asked, frustrated.

"I'm sorry, Rouge," he explained, his face contorted with resort, and yet, a bit of satisfaction that he had achieved his vengeance, though it did little to fully justify the torment he had gone through. "I couldn't help it. I had to do it. For so long, this man ruined my life. I was shit to this man, and he sure as hell let me know about it."

A devious smile began to emerge as he looked upon the gun.

"In a way, I'm glad I did it. No longer will I have to endure this fucking hell I had to face every damn day of my life."

He began to laugh, causing the others, as well as Rouge, to become increasingly nervous.

"You clowns never did face the shit I had to face. You all got off easy while I did not."

He began to wave his gun around, pointing it at the others.

"Todd, dude, take it easy!" one of the prisoners said, trying to calm him down. "You're free now. We're all free."

"You shut up, Collins," Todd growled, approaching him, pointing the pistol at his forehead. "You assume that all this is will just go away like some scrape on our elbow. Don't you realize that we're never going to be the same again after what those fucking bastards did to us? You never went through what I did, so you just shut the hell up."

Nervous, yet intrigued, Rouge approached him.

"What did you go through, Todd?" she asked, hoping a simple question that concerned him would ease the rising tension.

Todd grit his teeth and winced as if trying to hold back the pain that boiled within his mind and body.

"You'd never understand," Todd said, retreating a few steps and lowering his gun.

Rouge figured she had calmed him somewhat, and continued to approach him.

"Yes I will, Todd. After all, if I didn't give a shit about you, why would I waste my time freeing you?"

The question came out a little harsher that she would've liked, but the honesty swirled around it surely would have made him see that she really did give a damn.

"For that, I thank you, Rouge," he said, suddenly stopping and grinning. "But I never will be free from the pain I had endured."

He then pointed the gun at his face.

"This will free me. Thank you, Rouge."

Rouge's eyes widened in horror as she watched him open his mouth, stick the barrel of the gun inside, and pull the trigger.

"TODD, NO!"

The muffled gunshot made her jerk away in shock as she heard his body fall to the floor, along with the gun. The other prisoners shrieked in the same horror, unable to really know what to do other than to hold each other and either cry in despair or anger.

Demoralized, still in shock, Rouge slowly cast her eyes upon Todd's body, sprawled out upon the floor among his own pool of blood as the whimpers and mumblings of the other prisoners asking her what to do raced around with her own thoughts of what to do next.

"Let me think," she said, placing a hand on her forehead to try and gain some sort of mental control.

But her thoughts had taken too long, for what sounded like a heard of horses came thundering down the hallway adjacent to the brig. She heard one soldier's voice echo amongst the chorus of clip-clops that the gunfire had come from the brig.

He was reporting it to someone of their location; probably Craddock.

Rouge frantically scanned the room for any signs of an exit, but the brig was strategically built into a dead end.

She, along with the survivors, was trapped.

"What do we do now?" one asked, obviously frustrated and inundated with panic.

She looked over the prisoners, as they looked at her, hoping that she would somehow lead them to safety.

She looked out the entrance to the brig to other side of the hallway. There was another door. Perhaps it was a way out.

It was worth a shot, as it was the only chance they now had.

Rouge sighed, handed the keycard to one of the prisoners, and then flipped the rifle to her hands, gripping it tightly.

"When I start shooting, you run to that door and get out of here," she instructed. "I don't know where it will take you, but anything is better than here."

One of the prisoners plucked the pistol up off of the bloody floor, cocking it.

"I'm staying with you," he said with a stern smile. "You helped us out, now let me help you."

Rouge smiled at the man that also bore tattered clothing.

"Thanks, but you're gonna need that once you get through that door."

She could hear the sound of the boots slapping against the floor nearing. It was time to act now.

"Go!" Rouge yelled, darting out of the room and into the hallway, continuing to yell for the others as she opened fire upon the group.

The group hesitated at first once they saw Rouge begin to duck from the return fire.

"I said go!" she yelled again, continuing to fire, now falling to one knee as a bullet struck her leg.

The prisoner with the gun suddenly darted out, commanding the others to follow.

Somehow, they managed to cross the hallway without being cut down as Rouge continued her assault on the group of soldiers that had retreated back behind corners of the hallway down at the other end. She had managed to waste three of the, but more had begun to line up behind one of the corners, just waiting for her magazine to empty.

Another bullet struck her leg, and she fell, but managed to keep firing, trying her best to ignore the searing pain that now burned throughout her wounded leg.

Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as the freed prisoners file through the door.

It would've been perfect timing for her to make her own escape had her magazine not suddenly empty, her hail of gunfire now reduced to harmless clicks.

Shit, she thought, rolling over behind the corner, plucking her pistol free from its holster and holding it up to her chest.

She could hear the soldiers regroup and begin charging down the hallway once they heard the rifle stop. She looked over to the last prisoner that had stopped at the door, waiting for her to follow.

She shook her head vigorously.

"Get out of here! I'll hold them off as long as I can!"

He looked upon her, frantic. He wasn't about to just let her die.

"Move it!"

He was reluctant, but with a defeated look of helplessness, vanished behind the door. Rouge smiled and prepared to make her final stand, knowing that her wish to leave the world she had taken advantage of as a hero would finally be fulfilled.

She said a silent prayer to her daughter as she jammed her final cartridge of bullets into the pistol as she heard the footsteps come closer and closer.

"I do this for you, Sapphy," she whispered. "Remember me."

And with a yell, she darted back around the corner and began firing upon the advancing soldiers.


	14. Chapter 14

Sonic and all other various Sonic The Hedgehog characters are Copyright SEGA, Sonic Team, TMS Entertainment, and all other associations affiliated with the Sonic X anime/manga. All other characters belong to their rightful owner (me) and have no similarities with above-said characters whatsoever. Names used for other characters are random. Any people bearing the real name, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

* * *

14

Knuckles cursed furiously as he banged his head off of the ceiling of the air vent he had been scrambling through for what seemed hours, not knowing where to go or where he had been. He asked himself how the blue hedgehog could so maneuver so easily and so quickly in such a tight space and not succumb to claustrophobia in the process.

He stopped for a moment, rubbing both his aching head and knees, which had practically rubbed down to his skin from his crawling like a toddler on a mission.

And then he heard it again: gunfire.

He had long since evaded the onslaught from outside, but had they somehow followed him, tracing his movements by his lumbering around in the metal air ducts he thought was nestled securely above the ceiling tiles?

Surely not, he concluded silently before continuing on, hoping to find a vent large enough for him to fit through, as the lack of maneuverability was really beginning to get on his nerves. He ambled onward, trying his best to not let the tight quarters distract him from the mission he shared with the others.

But as he rounded a few corners of the sparsely lit corridor, he could swear that the gunfire actually sounded like it was getting closer, and while that confirmed his initial theory that he had been followed as being false, it did little to comfort him.

Someone was in trouble, as the amount of gunfire heard between brief moments of silence was indubitably lopsided. His mind began to wonder who that someone could be. He knew it wasn't Sonic, as he never toted a gun since he had always been confident of his speed and strength to get him through sticky situations, and often did.

He, then, thought of Tails. He was certainly the combative type, but after his ordeal in helping Cosmo sacrifice herself so that the universe would be spared, he'd distanced himself from virtually every kind of weaponry. He'd seen that when Rouge unveiled the weapons of choice that would be used once they would come face to face with the renegade group of mercenaries intent on using the emeralds for some odd reason. He could tell that Tails wanted no part of it, much to the chagrin of the former government agent that was adamant in that excessive force would have to be used even though she would have hoped otherwise.

And upon the next round of gunfire that bellowed through the metallic corridors, it was obvious who was in trouble.

"Damn it, Rouge," he whispered loudly. "It would be you, wouldn't it."

She was the last person he wanted to see at the moment, even more with the fact that now she was in bit of trouble, not that she didn't deserve it for getting everyone into the mess they were in now.

A coy smile emerged, as he seemed somewhat satisfied that the thief was being given a dose of her own medicine, wondering now if she ever regretted doing what she did. Perhaps a few close calls would shake her up enough to admit her wrongdoings.

He began crawling forward again, rejuvenated with sense of accomplishment. But that didn't last long, as he knew what Sonic would say about his wishing harmful things upon a teammate, especially one who had been traumatized so much.

Another bellowing echo of the gunfight rumbled around him as he continued onward, ignoring it this time as he allowed his angry thoughts of how Rouge had been treated as if she had been the victim instead of Amy, or perhaps everyone else in the group, and how he had been treated as if he were the villain because he had been truthful.

He came to what looked like some sort of intersection within the seemingly never-ending maze, with one route going upwards.

It was there that he heard the gunfire the loudest.

He squinted, knowing she was pinned somewhere above. A part of him was glad, and then another seemed laden with guilt, sending forth just a little pang of pain.

He cursed silently; tortured by the situation he was now in. He'd been in a similar situation before, trying to save the muscle-bound Metarex from death in the lava pit even after he had been attacked viciously over and over.

Defeated, he sighed. He knew damn well that he wasn't the type to allow anyone to die if it could be prevented, or kill anyone even if they had tried to kill him, despite his boorish and abrasive front he'd often throw up to intimidate those who opposed him.

He shook his head in shame, wondering just how hard his ancestors were laughing at him. He'd failed so many times in defending the master emerald, allowing it to be stolen on more than one occasion: twice by the very person he was now planning on saving.

However, a memory flashed while his eyes remained closed, and it was that of Sapphire, his daughter. A life made of his own flesh and blood that he never knew about until just a few days ago.

He could swear he could hear her laugh when she grabbed one of his dreadlocks, and he could now see her eyes and her build, just like him.

"Sapphire," he said softly before looking up into the metal corridor devoid of light. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

He reached up and stopped for a moment as another hail of gunfire echoed down to his face.

"Or your mother."

And with that simple confirmation of his true personality, he jammed his spiny fists into the sides of the vent, and began ascending to the upper floor.

What appeared to be a long road up turned out to be a lot shorter than the echidna had anticipated, climbing right up to a floor vent he easily knocked out with one swift punch.

Slowly, he emerged into the dark room, knowing the racket he caused would've surely roused anyone nearby. Thankfully, the room seemed to be empty, and, apparently, forgotten, as the amount of dust and cobwebs inside would indicate.

The echidna didn't take the initial signs for granted, eyeing every inch of the room that looked to be some sort of laboratory, lit by only the small square of light from the window of the door to his right.

Wonder what kind of place this is, he mused, taking mental notes of all that he saw, right up to the strange circular cut that enveloped several tables and filing cabinets.

He raised an eyebrow in both confusion and wonder as he approached one of the cabinets bearing a half-moon shearing that left no jagged edges of any kind, even on the paper. He ventured on, cautiously, investigating another cut into the far wall that was, again, smooth to the touch.

But before any thoughts as to what could've produced such an enigmatic anomaly, the gunfire he had been following suddenly erupted again, sounding as if the fight were now coming through the door, causing him to dive for cover.

And then, again, the guns stopped, allowing him to crawl over by the door.

He slowly rose to his feet, careful to be beside the lone window so as to not be in view of whomever might be shooting out in the adjoining hallway. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed several footsteps conglomerated by a fire exit door that still hung lazily open.

He grit his teeth, assuming that the group looking for him had apparently searched the very room he was now in. He figured they'd be back soon, which meant his window of time in getting to Rouge had now become a lot smaller.

Another vicious round of return fire startled Knuckles, and he ducked at first before creeping up to the corner of the window, peering out, careful to not be seen.

Immediately, he gasped as he saw her with her back up against the wall, breathing hard.

* * *

Ducking from time to time from the whistling of the bullets that flew by, tearing out pieces of drywall, she unclipped her last cartridge from her pistol, revealing only a few bullets left.

"Shit," she hissed, jamming it back it in and re-cocking the gun.

She knew she had only one chance to get to the door and hope that it hadn't locked behind the prisoners who had hastily made their escape.

She looked over to the door and how it seemed to be so far away from where she sat. She squinted, swearing she could see a shadow just behind the rectangular window.

But her train of thought stopped as she heard the slapping of boots against the floor. The soldiers were making a charge at her.

Instinctively, she leaned back around the corner and fired the remainder of her bullets, cutting down the first two before other behind them began firing.

One bullet struck her gun, knocking it out of her hand, but, luckily, not clipping her hand in the process.

She yelped and jerked back around the corner, shaking her hand.

She knew she now had to get out of there quickly.

"C'mon leg," she moaned, struggling to get to her feet, "You gotta work with me, here."

She used her wings to provide some leverage, but the pain that burned through her entire body had become increasingly intense, making it difficult to move with much speed.

She could hear the footsteps getting nearer and nearer as she worked her way toward the door. A little bit of hope swelled within her, as she knew she was going to make it before the guards would.

But that hope quickly disappeared, for upon reaching for the handle and pulling, she found that it was locked from the inside.

"No!" she yelled, continuing to pull harder and harder on the stubborn door.

And when she heard a chorus of clicks behind her, she stopped and leaned her head against the door, defeated, dejected.

"Move one muscle, and you're dead," one of the soldiers sternly warned, his wavering rifle still pointed to her head.

She took in a deep breath, ready to accept her fate before noticing a familiar face emerge from the side of the window, hidden somewhat from the tint, but now very visible.

His face was contorted into a look of utter concern as he looked upon her and the lone tear that had welled up in one of her eyes, signaling her reluctant surrender.

"Knuckles?" she mouthed, understandably surprised to see him.

In an instant, his face changed from concerned to anger, as he must have seen the line of men all with their guns pointed at his teammate.

He drew back a fist.

Rouge, knowing what was about to come next, dove off to the side.

"What the--?" one of the guards said, but before he or anyone else in his group could react, the door suddenly, and violently flew from its hinges toward them, buckled in the middle from where the echidna had blasted it.

All were knocked to the sides and to the floor of the hallway from the heavy metal door that careened into them, knocking their rifles from their hands.

Knuckles stepped in, wearing his usual look of utter disgust as he surveyed the damage he had done. All around lay unconscious soldiers, some barely moving, as pain had to have been coursing through their bodies.

Satisfied for the moment, he quickly turned and offered a hand to Rouge, still huddled in the corner of the hallway.

He immediately noticed the gunshot wounds she had suffered in her leg.

"Rouge!" he yelped, kneeling down next to her. "Oh my God, you've been shot!"

What he saw wasn't supposed to happen. She was one of the more agile members of the group, able to easily sidestep any attack, as she had done so many times before.

"Are you okay?"

Rouge stared at her rescuer with a flat expression, as if wondering if he were really serious.

"For being shot three times, pretty good, I guess," she said, taking his hand and trying to rise to her feet.

The pain was too immense, and she sank back down to the floor.

"Ow, ow ow. Damn it, this hurts," she moaned, wincing with every move, clutching her ravaged leg.

She ripped off her other sleeve and handed it to the echidna, who now looked very unsure of what to do with it.

"Wrap it around my leg as tight as you can so this bleeding will stop."

"But, won't that hurt?" he asked, concerned.

"Probably, but it's gotta stop. Do it."

The echidna took a deep breath, and then gingerly wrapped the makeshift bandage around the angry-looking wounds that continued to bleed.

"Tighter!" she ordered through clenched teeth.

As instructed, he tied a knot and drew it tight against her blood stained leg, bringing forth a heart-wrenching scream of pain from the normally fearless treasure hunter.

"Tie another one," she huffed, choking back the urge to vomit everywhere from the intense pain that now caused her head to fiercely throb.

Wearing a look of sheer terror Knuckles reluctantly obliged, tying another knot atop the previous one until a working tourniquet had been created.

The bleeding immediately began to slow, and Rouge smacked her head back against the wall, her breathing rapid and heavy with relief.

"Man, giving birth wasn't as painful as this," she wheezed wiping away sweat from her brow. "You okay over there, nurse Knuckles?"

The echidna had also sunken down beside her, staring at his gloves that had now become tainted crimson with her blood.

"Knuckles?"

He slowly turned his stare to Rouge. She looked so beaten up, so frail with the undeserving injuries she had sustained, all for the sake of reacquiring the emeralds.

"Rouge, what in God's name have we gotten ourselves into?" he asked, his own look bordering despair. "I mean, this was supposed to be another routine mission where we barge in on Eggman, destroy some of his robots, grab the emeralds, then go. This wasn't supposed to happen. Not to you, not to Amy, not to anyone."

Rouge patted the echidna's knee.

"I know what you're saying. Maybe one day we'll all figure this out, but for now, we need to just get out of here and hope Sonic has had better luck than the rest of us."

It really wasn't the answer Knuckles had been looking for, but for the moment, it would work. He snorted in half agreement and extended his hand, again, to Rouge.

"Maybe one day we won't want to figure it out," he said, helping her drape her good arm over his shoulder.

"Maybe. Hey, did you happen to see some people go through that room you came out of?"

"No, but I saw footprints by the exit door."

Rouge smiled.

"Good, they made it out, then."

"Who's 'they'?" Knuckles asked with a raised eyebrow, slowly making his way with Rouge through the room.

"Tails and I came upon Eggman and that Craddock idiot holding Helen hostage. Tails managed to get Helen out while I got the others out after learning there were more prisoners here."

Knuckles' mouth fell open at the mere mention of hostages and prisoners. It was no surprise that Eggman might have been behind holding hostages, but as he listened to Rouge explain the condition Helen had been in, along with the others, and Todd firing a bullet into his mouth after killing off a guard, he began to think otherwise.

They both hobbled into the dark adjoining room, immediately making their way to the exit door that never looked so good in all the missions they had been a part of. But before leaving, Rouge caught site of the strange circular cut.

"What in the world?" she asked, gazing at the site that began to sift through her memories.

Her eyes widened as she remembered.

"This is the accident G.U.N. never wanted to comment on!"

She broke free from Knuckles' grasp and hobbled over to one of the filing cabinets, digging into the massive amounts of papers and folders without having to open one drawer, courtesy of whatever had cut through them years earlier.

"Rouge, c'mon!" Knuckles said, alerted to the faint sound of boots coming from nearby. "They're coming!"

"Got it," Rouge said, grabbing one of the folders stuffed with various papers relating to what experiments had been performed in the now neglected lab before falling to the ground after trying to hurry back.

"Rouge!" Knuckles said, rushing over and scooping her up in his arms, dashing out the door and into the night.

Shocked, but a little disgusted at such a clichéd method of being moved to safety, Rouge glared at the echidna, grimacing every now and then as her leg bounced with his footsteps.

But her glare gradually softened, and she found herself actually smirking. It was definitely corny, but in some ways, it didn't really seem all that bad, for she knew that he really did give a damn.

* * *

Kind of a short chapter, really, but a nice way to build up to the next chapter. I'm sure some of you are relieved with the outcome, aren't you? :)

Thanks for reading!


	15. Chapter 15

Sonic and all other various Sonic The Hedgehog characters are Copyright SEGA, Sonic Team, TMS Entertainment, and all other asso

Sonic and all other various Sonic The Hedgehog characters are Copyright SEGA, Sonic Team, TMS Entertainment, and all other associations affiliated with the Sonic X anime/manga. All other characters belong to their rightful owner (me) and have no similarities with above-said characters whatsoever. Names used for other characters are random. Any people bearing the real name, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

* * *

Another chapter! As we head to the middle of the novel, I'd like to know from you guys how things are coming along. Too slowly? Too fast? Character development? I sincerely appreciate everyone's input thus far, as well as all the positive and critical comments you've made. They've helped immensely and allow me to push forth with the novel. Words alone cannot show the amount of gratitude I feel, but it does help. ;)

Thanks again, all of you, and enjoy the chapter!

* * *

15

Amy rustled around the makeshift bed made of large leaves as the silhouettes of the jagged peaks that surrounded the old base Eggman and Craddock had holed up in began to slowly emerge as the remnants of the previous night began to fail.

She was waking, but kept her eyes shut for a while longer, perhaps to drag out her dream session as long as possible, perhaps knowing it really was nothing more.

Still, she could at least be entertained by the notion that her imagination had sharpened enough to make even the feel of her hideously uncomfortable bed in her tight quarters seem like fluffy leaves piled high, and the smell that was often stale seem alive and of the outdoors.

'Wow, what a dream that was,' she mused, rolling over onto her back, giggling. 'Sonic coming to my rescue donning all that techie stuff Tails must've given him.'

She sighed, reluctant to give into the truth.

'Sure seemed real, though. Even this outdoorsy smell.'

She sighed again.

'Maybe I can just stay like this forever.'

Sonic came barging in as he always did, only this time not in a sense of combat, bearing a handful of blackberries.

"Breakfast is served, Amy!" he said with a smile that had been literally nonexistent for so long.

Amy reluctantly opened her eyes and noticed Sonic standing over her. Her smile never left.

'Okay, now I'm dreaming that I'm awake and Sonic is standing over me holding some sort of small, weird fruit in his hand,' she told herself, confirming that, in fact, she was still dreaming because when was the last time Sonic ever did something for her?

"Not much to choose from, really," the blue hedgehog beaming with pride said, fingering through the identical berries. "There's berries, berries, and, well, more berries. They're not bad, though."

He popped in his mouth and immediately puckered his lips and squinted.

"Just a little on the tart side, however."

Amy stared at the blackberries for a minute, then to Sonic.

"Thanks, but no thanks," she said with a wry smile. "I'd rather just stay asleep right here instead of waking up chewing on my piece of particle board for a pillow, realizing all of this was just another silly dream."

She shrugged her shoulders.

"Sorry."

Sonic returned a sly smile and promptly smashed a berry in her face.

"Sonic! What the--?" Amy yelled, quickly wiping away the mess before realizing that the mess was real, as was the berry that had created that mess. "Wait a—"

She licked the purple glob from her gloved finger.

"This _is_ real!"

She looked over to Sonic, who politely waved with his fingertips.

"Sonic, _you're_ real!" she squealed, practically knocking him over with a vicious bear hug.

"Of course!" he replied in a muffled tone, trying to pry her off as her excessive squeeze was making it hard to breathe. "Now calm down and eat."

She giggled in embarrassment for acting out of place as she slowly took the berries from his hand, popping them into her mouth. Her initial reaction was of inevitable and understandable pleasure, though the tartness made her pucker and squint, too.

"Oh, this is a hundred times better than that God awful crap they were forcing me to eat that looked like cat food," she said, chewing with a smile. "No, a thousand times better."

She took in a deep breath and slowly exhaled.

"And for once, my head doesn't feel like it's underwater."

"Tell me about it," Sonic said, wiping his hands together, "You were acting like some of those drunks I used to see staggering all over Station Square. Wonder why they kept you like that?"

"Don't know," Amy said with a shrug. "All I know is that I couldn't put together two thoughts before being knocked out silly again for who knows how long. Come to think of it, who knows what those idiots did to me in there."

The mere thought of her being totally vulnerable to the curious prodding of all those scientists, as well as Eggman, made her shudder with a sickly feeling.

"I don't want to sound like I'm being fresh or anything," Sonic said, placing a hand on her arm, "But you seem to be in tip-top shape. I don't think you spent a lot of time just lying around in there."

Amy didn't mind the compliment, as those were rare, indeed, from the blue hedgehog. But upon looking herself over, she, too, noticed.

"I guess so," she said, looking down at her muscular calf and thigh in both confusion and surprise. "I do feel energetic, and light, though I'm not sure I'm too hip on the black skin suit."

She, then, reached up and placed a hand on her head, finding little hair where there once used to be, kept neatly in place by the tight red hair band.

"Oh, wonderful," she said with a slight dejected feeling. "They gave me a buzz cut. I guess that might explain a part of it. Geez, definitely not my style."

"Oh, you look fine," Sonic said before pursing his lips, afraid that that comment might've been a little too forward too soon. "No, what I meant was that I—"

Amy smiled and grabbed his chin.

"It's okay, Sonic. I know what you meant, you sly dog. Thanks."

Sonic smiled nervously, his face turning a slight shade of pink.

"Hold on a second," Amy suddenly added, as if a reason for her short hair had suddenly popped into the forefront. "Sonic, check my head, behind the ears."

"Okay," Sonic said reluctantly as Amy turned and motioned to her head. "Um, what am I looking for here? Ticks?"

"Scars."

"Scars?"

"Like I'd been operated on or something. I've got a bad feeling as to why they messed with my hair."

The mere thought of the goons cutting on his friend made Sonic's head tingle with anger. He searched, not really knowing what to look for, but if he were to find a scar of any sort, they would all pay dearly.

Relief began setting in as he search, but never could find anything. That is, until he flipped her right ear forward and revealed a small, thin scab: definite signs of an incision. His head began tingling again.

"There's a small incision behind your right ear, Amy," Sonic said with a hurtful gulp.

Amy's shoulders sagged a little.

"Figures. Well, the bright side is that they didn't give me a lobotomy or anything, because I can think, talk, and move around just fine. I remember everyone, and I can even remember all of the recipes in Ella's book."

"What did those bastards do to you in there?" Sonic asked angrily.

Amy could only shake her head in dismay.

Sonic plopped down on a nearby rock, tapping his finger against his cheek, trying to keep his composure instead of acting out on his emotions just like Knuckles.

"I heard that Craddock fellow referring to you as the Onyx," he said, switching the subject. "I wonder what that's all about?"

"Don't know. Maybe it's because of this painfully ugly suit I'm wearing."

She pinched a little of the skin-tight suit and stuck her tongue out.

"P-U. Talk about lackluster taste!"

An idea seemed to suddenly appear, as she perked upright.

"Maybe Tails can somehow figure out what this is in my head using his computer stuff. Maybe the data inside can tell us something."

"Won't take a computer to figure out what hot air is, Amy," Sonic laughed.

She slapped him in the arm.

"I'm serious, Sonic!"

"I know. I was just kidding with you. It's worth a shot. Man, Tails and the others are going to flip out when they see you!"

A small smile grew on Amy's face.

"It seems like forever's passed since I last saw you and everyone else. I can't begin to tell you how much I've missed you all."

"It sure seemed like forever since that night," Sonic added with a dejected sigh. "Do you remember anything after what happened that led you here?"

She suddenly looked away, sad.

"I guess."

She was reluctant to tell, and Sonic understood, silently scolding himself for trying to stir up nightmares that might've fallen into recession so that whatever hope had been left inside wouldn't have been drowned out, as they probably should have.

"I'm sorry, Amy," Sonic said softly. "You don't have to—"

"It's okay."

She slowly sat back down and drew her knees up to her chin.

"After those bastards gassed the room and shot me with that tranquilizer, I figured I'd be out for a while. I was right, as I soon woke up in a cell with a few other humans. Apparently, there were others there, too, but just in other rooms. Day and night, Sonic, they kept taking these men and women away, and they'd never return. Everyone was so scared that they'd be the next victims. So, I volunteered myself to keep that from happening, knowing what the risk of doing so would be. I was right."

Amy pulled her knees in tighter, obviously unprepared to share what had happened next.

"They hooked me up to this machine that contained the chaos emeralds, as well as some other emerald I'd never seen before once Eggman brought it in."

She sighed deeply and closed her eyes.

"The rest is blank."

Sonic could only look on in absolute dismay and helplessness.

"I tried to follow, Amy," he confessed, "But the gas they pumped into that room slowed me, and by the time I did find you, they disappeared with that teleportation machine and the emeralds. We just couldn't trace your whereabouts at all. I was too slow, Amy. I assumed the worst had already happened, and let it stay that way. It's all my fault, Amy. I'm so sorry."

Amy crept over and took his hand.

"Sonic, it's okay," she said, trying to console his broken spirit. "I know how hard you must've tried to find me, and you did. You found me, okay for the most part."

Soniclooked down at Amy's hand sporting a ring of solid black snugly fit around her wrist, shining both menacingly and mysteriously against the sun that had now poked above the jagged mountaintops.

For now, he discarded them as just being a fancy add-on, though their appearance did unnerve him.

"I sure hope so, Amy," he said with uncertainty. "With all those drugs and whatever being pumped into you all the time, I sure hope so."

"I should be okay, Sonic," the pink hedgehog replied, taking time out to watch the first few sunbeams trickle down over the rocks, something she had been denied of for months. "Though I am a little worried about that scar."

A smile decided to appear on her face; perfect timing to change the subject to something a little less depressing.

"Quite a beautiful sunrise isn't it."

"More beautiful than ever," Sonic added, also taking in the majestic beauty that is so often taken for granted until it's taken away for a long time.

Amy snickered.

"What?" Sonic asked, red-faced, wondering if his choice of words didn't quite suit the current situation (although he felt that it was a nice touch).

"Oh, nothing. I'm just still trying to let myself believe that I'm really out here watching the sunrise with you, Sonic. It's almost surreal in a way."

"Surreal? You want to talk surreal? I've been trying to come to terms with your 'passing'!"

He looked into her eyes, his heart pounding.

"God, I've missed you so much, Amy."

Amy's eyes widened as she tried to fathom the blue hedgehog pouring out his emotions he had kept in check for so long, passing them off with a simple excuse to go running off somewhere to avoid having them returned to him.

She didn't want to believe it, but in looking back into his eyes, the sincerity was almost as obvious as someone waving a tremendously large red flag.

"I've missed you, too, Sonic," she said softly, her face turning just a slight shade of red.

"No, Amy," Sonic replied, now clasping his fingers around hers, "I've really, really missed you."

Amy's heart began to pound madly as he slowly leaned in and nuzzled her face. She felt herself go weak, yet the excitement of what she had been waiting for in what seemed decades drove her pulse up to the stratosphere. Her pursuit had finally paid off, and the dividend that could easily be compared to an Independence Day fireworks finale was about to take place.

She could feel his breath cascade over her lips, washing over her with warmth one would feel when submerging into a tub full of warm water. Her whole body tingled.

And then the X-Tornado suddenly roared overhead, breaking apart their impromptu romantic moment.

"The X-Tornado!" she yelled, pointing to the jet as it zoomed over to a group of peaks.

One of which happened to be the rendezvous point, seemingly forgotten amongst the maelstrom of everything else that had happened thus far.

"Oh, right!" Sonic said, snapping his fingers in remembrance. "We've got a rendezvous!"

"Well, let's go, then!" Amy said before taking off into a sprint that even took Sonic by surprise.

And though he took off into his own sprint, he actually found it difficult to keep up with slender pink hedgehog.

Man, she's faster than ever, Sonic mused, gawking at how she never broke her expression, which was of joy to see Tails and the others flying by.

The point was rapidly nearing, and Sonic could see Tails eyeing over in his direction.

"Amy, wait!" Sonic yelled, finally reaching the speedster. "Slow down a little. You'd better let me go first."

She looked over to the two-tailed fox and Knuckles climbing out of the jet. She knew Sonic had a good point, as her sudden presence after being declared dead for so long might come off as quite an alarm, bringing about quite the unsavory reaction she would hope for.

"Yeah, you might be right," she said, ducking behind a jagged rock that looked as if it had burst through the ground, yet cradled by the moss that had crept over it with time. "I don't want to scare the crap out of them. Not yet, anyway."

She watched as the blue hedgehog approached them. She couldn't help but smile at how they'd all react once they would see her unbelievable and impossible resurrection.

Then again, that initial thought became clouded with the memory of Sonic's heartfelt confession she wished could've continued just a shade longer.

* * *

The blue hedgehog ran as fast as he could, overcome with excitement and impatience in anticipation of sharing the wonderful news that might even bring forth a smile upon Knuckles' usually grim face.

However, as he came upon the rendezvous point, his emotions stalled, faltered, and fell more into a sense of utter shock and dismay. Tails, having seen his lifelong pal emerge from the other peaks, said nothing as he helped Knuckles move Rouge toward the ground, her leg and arm wrapped heavily in bandages.

"Rouge?" Sonic gasped, unable to comprehend the unfolding scene that was supposed to be one of rejoicing and celebration of the group's victorious plundering of Eggman's latest hideout.

Instead, it felt more like defeat.

"My God, what happened?"

Rouge looked up to the blue hedgehog and half-smiled before grimacing from another wave of pain as she was laid on the hard ground as gingerly as possible.

"I ran into some…problems," she said dryly before heartily accepting a few pills Tails offered to help combat the insurmountable pain.

She noticed the emeralds in his hands.

"But all wasn't lost, I see. Looks like our diversion helped you out."

Sonic never took his stare away from her leg that bore stains of her earlier firefight that nearly took her life, still trying to come to terms with the fact that a teammate had been so brutally wounded. It wasn't as if he and the others hadn't had their fair share of cuts and scrapes, as fights would take their normal cycle either side would gain the upper hand before the hero would always come out victorious in the end. But that paled in comparison to what was before him. He was torn, wishing now that he would've joined up with Rouge and Tails, perhaps preventing what had happened. Then again, had he gone with them, he might never have found Amy or the emeralds.

Rouge noticed the sense of agonizing guilt emanating from the seemingly indestructible hedgehog.

"Hey, don't sweat it, Sonic," she reassured. "We knew what we were getting ourselves into when we came here. I didn't realize just how treacherous things would get. All I can say is that it was a good thing these two were there or I'd be a goner."

"After Knuckles got her to the X-Tornado, I was able to properly bandage up everything and stop the bleeding for good," Tails added with a touch of pride. "Good thing I packed up some extra medical stuff after hearing what she had to say."

The mood in Sonic had certainly begun to shift from being depressed and glum at seeing the condition of his teammates. Rouge seemed so nonchalant about her injuries as well as the trouble she had obviously run into. Tails, still toting the pistol (though empty) firmly nestled in its holster, looked the part of the leader as he sent Knuckles over to the second cockpit to retrieve Helen, who was now waving madly at the sight of Sonic. He never looked so confident of himself as he did then, which brought a smile to the hedgehog's face.

And then he looked upon Knuckles being the obedient helper, daring not to ask questions that would usually belie the point of every mission, throwing in that one cog that would emphasize his egotistical mannerisms and sometimes lead to a situation that would have never arisen otherwise. No, Sonic saw a much different echidna; one who actually cared without first having to feel at fault.

And then there was Rouge: the former jewel thief who would deny the thievery part and defend her role as a treasure hunter that had made one of the more remarkable turnarounds he had ever seen. There was no denying that this same scene had been seen before, as she had teamed up with them in different situations to right the wrong, but also find a way to nab the chaos emeralds while the others were distracted. But this time seemed different, starting with her surrendering of the emeralds to Sonic, which was something the hedgehog never dreamed of seeing in person, let alone seeing the normally independent adventure-seeker be accompanied by offspring.

He looked over the whole scene, and breathed a very deserving sigh of relief, for he and the others had achieved more than they bargained for.

It was time to let the cat out of the bag, though it was inevitable that the echidna would beat him to the punch.

"Haven't seen you like this for quite a while, Sonic," Knuckles laughed, folding his arms matter-of-factly. "You've got that spark of personality back. It's like you ran into Amy in there or something."

Sonic snickered. "Oh, you might say that."

The echidna, dumbstruck, laughed nervously at the odd reply, but happened to notice everyone staring over at a large rock that had looked as it had erupted from the ground, but cradled by moss that had crept up its sides over time.

Standing beside, shyly folding her hands behind her back, stood Amy, smiling.


	16. Chapter 16

Sonic and all other various Sonic The Hedgehog characters are Copyright SEGA, Sonic Team, TMS Entertainment, and all other associations affiliated with the Sonic X anime/manga. All other characters belong to their rightful owner (me) and have no similarities with above-said characters whatsoever. Names used for other characters are random. Any people bearing the real name, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

* * *

Super sorry for the lengthy delay in getting this chapter up. Things have been ridiculously hectic at work, which ate up practically all my time, not to mention a devastating crash that left me computerless at home for quite some time. I know they are excuses, but they hold the truth. Anyway, please enjoy the chapter, and many thanks to those who have stuck around me as this story continues to develop.

* * *

16

Shock, awe, uncertainty, and even a little skepticism swirled amongst a breeze that had found its way to where everyone had gathered, its whistling through weathered limbs and narrow passes through nearby precipices providing the only noise as those who had just seen her miraculous reemergence could do nothing but remain still and marvel.

"A-Amy?" Tails stammered, understandably frozen with indecision to either flee from fear, or embrace her with joy. "Is that you?"

"Hi Tails," Amy said sheepishly, cautiously approaching the gentle fox who appeared to be so much more mature than the last time she had seen him. "Been a while, hasn't it?"

For a second, Tails smiled and chuckled uncomfortably at Amy's dry sense of humor that had been absent from their daily routines before finally casting aside what doubt he might've had upon seeing the slender pink hedgehog and enveloping her in a hug as tight as his small stature would allow.

"We thought we'd never see you again!" the small fox happily cried, tightening his grip around her so that she could never disappear from them again. "We though you were…"

The vulpine pilot suddenly backed away, ashamed at his last words.

"Dead?" Amy said with a smile that caused Tails' cheeks to redden. "Far from it, flyboy. Far from it."

Another uncomfortable laugh emanated from the teenager after Amy winked at him.

Knuckles approached her next, stepping in front of Tails, and simply extended his hand for a professional handshake, typical for the echidna that rarely showed emotion other than anger or frustration.

Amy knew better than to remark on his abrasive stature, as it would've been as tasteless as the garments adorning her body, especially since the situation was still quite dramatic.

However upon shaking his hand, she swore she noticed his eyes glazing over with wetness, and his lip quivered ever so slightly. She gasped, but in detailing his emotion that begged her to not reveal his true emotions at the time, she smiled softly, as if to promise him that his little secret was safe with her.

"It's so good to see you all again," Amy said, beaming. "It's been so long. It's felt like forever's passed by."

"Tell me about it," said a voice from behind Knuckles.

Hobbling up to the echidna, and placing a hand on his shoulder to balance herself, Rouge smiled flatly as she looked upon the miracle before her.

"Rouge," Amy said, her smile that was meant for all her friends diminishing somewhat. "Didn't expect to see you here."

"Same here," the ex-agent said with a grimace.

What was one joy and relief upon seeing their comrade having risen from the proverbial ashes of presumption on their part suddenly turned into confusion as the atmosphere grew tense with the two girls stared at each other after the dry introductions, perhaps sizing each other up for an unintended verbal showdown.

Amy faltered first, however, as her appraisal of the one-time thief discovered the thick bandages that had now begin to show signs that the gunshot wounds she had taken were still bleeding.

Rouge noticed right away. "Yeah, I found out I'm not as fast as I used to be in my old age. I'll be fine, though."

The pink hedgehog's face shriveled into one of more concern instead of contempt. "You're hurt, though."

"But I'm still here, aren't I? The thing is, we got the emeralds back, we got you back, and Tails and I managed to free the prisoners that were in there. I'd say this is a small price to pay for what we accomplished."

Rouge reached over and pinched the echidna's cheek.

"Had it not been for Knucklehead over there, though, I don't think I would be here talking to you."

Amy's face softened, and she smiled as Knuckles grumbled under his breath at Rouge to not call him that name as he joined Sonic and the others in surrounding Amy with their persistent ramblings of how remarkable it was have found her after having so little information to on, as well as the haunting evidence that all but confirmed her death.

She took it all in without so much as saying one word in response. It felt good to her to know that she had been dearly missed (especially Sonic and his method of showing how much he missed her), and was welcomed back with open arms instead of mocking expressions she was often given when she would ever show any sort of affection toward her blue counterpart, be it by words or a hopeful daydream.

Her smile partially faded, however, upon why they were even there in the first place. They had come for the emeralds, not her. She was just a coincidental find, as Sonic had put it. She had already been assumed dead to them, as if they had given up hope on her. Though hard, she did understand. If things had been reversed, she, too, would assume the worst had happened given the amount time that had passed.

Still, though, the fact that the group that abhors the very phrase "give up" had actually done so was unnerving. She began to wonder if the same action would've been taken had it been someone else and not her. Would they have given up if Sonic had been the one to disappear?

She shuddered slightly at what their reaction would be.

But as she looked upon their faces again, each bearing an overwhelming sense of relief and confidence, she firmly tucked away any doubt she had, though she couldn't quite erase it.

The conversation eventually shifted toward devising a plan to get back to Station Square and what to do once there as they all knew Craddock and Eggman wouldn't delay in sending out a massive search party to take back their precious commodities.

Amy listened intently to the seemingly impromptu game plan Tails conveyed, but was unable to focus all of her attention on the plan itself as an eerie feeling that she was being watched kept tickling her spine, making her shift her shoulders uncomfortably.

Finally, unable to shake the feeling free, she glanced back to the X-Tornado and was met with a piercing stare from Helen, who had been sitting patiently in the secondary cockpit specially attached to the X-Tornado for extra passengers.

Amy smiled, waved, and began walking over to the young lady who had been forgotten amongst the whirlwind of emotion surrounding Amy's return to the group. The closer she got to the jet, however, the more she began to see that the stare that had won over her insecurity was not one of joy or shock, but of sheer terror, as if she had seen death itself walking amongst the living.

"Hey, you," Amy said nonchalantly, disguising her bit of uncertainty that had settled in upon seeing the girl's expression with an awkward smile of her own.

With no words in response, Helen began retreating backwards, her hands searching for a way to put more distance between them.

"Helen?"

"You!" Helen hissed, pointing a shaky finger at Amy. "You stay away from me!"

The pink hedgehog had become understandably confused and a little afraid at the sudden outburst.

"Helen, it's me," Amy said, gesturing to herself. "It's Amy. Don't you remember me?"

"I SAID GET AWAY FROM ME!"

Amy retreated from Helen, who now shielded herself with her arms, revealing the scars from injuries she had needlessly suffered from her imprisonment at the base. The pink hedgehog was awestruck by the sheer magnitude of the scars, all long and thin that crawled almost the entire length of her arm, as if she had been cut with a long knife.

It was then that a sudden flash of an intruding and forgotten memory ripped through her mind as she looked at the cowering girl with her arms thrown up for a makeshift shield.

In that moment, Amy could see the same pose, and then it quickly vanished, leaving her dizzied and unbalanced. She fell to her knees, putting a hand up to her head to try and stop her surroundings from spinning around her.

Sonic, after he and the others had heard Helen's scream, noticed Amy, and quickly dashed over to her.

"Amy!" he said, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"Just a little dizzy spell, that's all," Amy replied, her body trembling beneath his fingers.

Sonic frowned, knowing better than to believe that that was all it was. He knew that something was going on with either the chip inside her skull, or the drugs that had been inundating her body that had obviously become dependent on.

"Really, Sonic," Amy said, noting the blue hedgehog's dubious expression, "I'm okay. It's nothing. Probably just me not being used to the outside yet."

Sonic wasn't convinced, but reluctantly gave into the idea that maybe she was right.

_The sooner we get that damned chip out her head, the better,_ he thought as he helped her to her feet.

"Sonic, what's wrong with Helen?" Amy asked, having shaken off the apparent ill effects.

The blue hedgehog looked up to Helen, who had now buried her face in her hands, and sighed heavily. He knew why, but couldn't bring himself to explain it.

"She acted like I was kind of monster. Sonic, I'd never do anything to frighten that poor girl."

And yet, he knew there was no way to dodge doing so.

"She had all these scars on her arms. What in the world happened to her?"

"Amy," Sonic said softly, still trying to think of a way out of the impending explanation, "You do know that Helen was a prisoner at that base, don't you?"

"I remember seeing her," Amy answered cautiously, unsure of what Sonic was getting at, "But we couldn't speak to each other, as we were separated rather quickly. She and a few others were put into one cell, while I, and some more humans, were locked in another. We had no way of communicating with each other because the doors were always locked, and made of thick metal."

"When I found my way in, I happened to see her being held by Craddock and Eggman. Craddock threatened to take her to the Onyx if she didn't cooperate, which was all I heard before I left to go find the emeralds, leaving Tails and Rouge to get her out, which they did, thankfully."

Amy was still confused at the explanation Sonic was obviously sugar coating. "Sonic, what are you talking about?"

"Amy, do you remember what I told you earlier this morning?"

"You said that Craddock kept referring me as—"

Amy suddenly stiffened, and her face hardened.

"—the Onyx."

She looked back up toward Helen, recalling the scars she had seen.

"You mean I gave her those scars? Me?"

Sonic could only look at her, speechless. Amy didn't take the truth well.

"No! No, I couldn't have! Sonic, you know I'd never do anything to Helen, or anyone for that matter! You can't possibly—"

She wavered for a moment before falling back to her knees, her face pale.

"Oh my God. What have I done? What have I done?"

She buried her face into her hands, sobbing heavily.

"Amy," Sonic continued, trying to console her from the awful truth, "You didn't do anything. They made you do those things. They knew you'd never ever do anything against you will, so they used those drugs and that chip to control your will and your emotions."

"Oh, please, Sonic," Amy griped between sobs.

"Amy," Rouge added, "Believe in him. It's true. I've heard of such things before, though the whole idea of the chip in your head has to be Eggman's doing."

"Rouge," Amy continued, barely clinging to her composure, "I have to know. How many prisoners did you and Tails free?"

Rouge looked over to Sonic, as if waiting for him to intervene so that she wouldn't have to confess her findings.

"Please, Rouge. I must know."

Rouge sighed, understandably reluctant to worsen Amy's already unstable emotions.

"When I made it to the holding area, I found only six survivors."

Amy gasped in horror as Rouge continued her explanation of how they had told her of their stories of being forced to encounter the Onyx time and time again for "testing."

"I…I murdered those people," Amy wheezed. "They made me a murderer!"

Again, she let go a blood-curdling scream and buried her head into her arms as Sonic could only offer up words of encouragement in the hopes that some solace could be found within them. But as she continued to sob uncontrollably, he found himself beginning to burn with anger.

He wanted both Craddock and Eggman dead. They had taken something innocent and pure within Amy and transformed it into something vile and cruel with just a touch of greed and machinery just so they could attain their wishes and desires.

It made him sick to know that innocent lives had been carelessly flicked aside so that their ambitions could become reality. Eggman had certainly been evil in his schemes before, but this had gone way too far for anyone to even remotely fathom.

"He won't get away with this," Sonic growled as he clinched his fists, a wisp of a navy-colored flame emerging from within the creases of his hand. "I won't let him."

"Sonic, calm down," Knuckles said gruffly as the others retreated, unsure of what was going on. "You're acting like me right now, hot-headed and stupid. You're right. They're not going to get away with it, but not right now. Let's bide our time, get ourselves healed, and then we can get Eggman once and for all."

Sonic glared at the echidna. He knew was right, but in seeing Amy crumpled to the ground in a heap of uncontrollable emotion brought forth by the evil genius's malicious invention, revenge seemed so much sweeter than patience.

"Why should we even waste our time on Eggman, anyway?" Tails added, "We've got Amy and the Emeralds back. We should just leave and let Eggman be nothing more than a memory to us, as he won't be able to get back once we're gone."

"You guys don't get it, do you?" Sonic suddenly said, having calmed somewhat. "Look at what Eggman and that maniac Craddock has done to our Amy, as well as Helen, and all those innocent people. If we leave, then we betray Chris and everyone else, because Eggman and Craddock won't stop. They'll keep on until they get what they both want, and that's absolute power."

He scowled at each one for wanting to bolt so soon.

"I'm not about to quit on my friend."

"Sonic?" a faint voice called out.

It was Helen, who had heard the entire conversation.

"Sonic, help me down."

Reluctant to leave Amy's side, he sent Tails over to assist the frail girl's body down from the X-Tornado and over to where the grieving hedgehog still lay by her request.

"Amy," Helen said with immense guilt and sadness. "I know you can hear me. Please forgive me for what I said. I should've known better than to ever think you'd do such evil things to anyone, let alone me. You're not a murderer, Amy. You're a friend. Please, forgive me."

Almost as if the very words contained some sort of healing magic within them, Amy slowly looked up and toward Helen, her eyes red and raw from the intense crying spells. A small smile of reassurance found its way to her face.

It was certainly welcome, but it did little to avert the awful truths that had befallen the hedgehog in that she had been used a mere tool to satisfy Eggman and Craddock's voracious appetite for destruction, power, and dominance.

"I just feel so used, Sonic," Amy shakily said, sitting upright. "How can I ever live with myself knowing my thoughts and feelings were controlled by some…some…machine?"

"That's just it," Sonic replied confidently, "You were used. You were just a vessel for which they could do things they could never do. You had no part in it whatsoever."

He took her hand into his.

"Trust me, Amy. We'll get through it. It may not be easy, but well find a way."

Amy sighed deeply, as if envisioning the inevitable struggles ahead. But upon looking down at their interlocked hands, she knew she'd try as hard as she could. "I'll try, Sonic."


	17. Chapter 17

Sonic and all other various Sonic The Hedgehog characters are Copyright SEGA, Sonic Team, TMS Entertainment, and all other associations affiliated with the Sonic X anime/manga. All other characters belong to their rightful owner (me) and have no similarities with above-said characters whatsoever. Names used for other characters are random. Any people bearing the real name, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

* * *

WOOT! Another update, and in record time! Hope you all enjoy it as things begin to get dicey.

* * *

17

Craddock knelt down and inspected one of the larger shards of glass jutting up from the remainder of the wreckage that once used to house his prized possession he knew would've made his every wish for global supremacy come true. His lengthy sigh that resembled more of a deep growl was more than enough evidence to prove that he was beyond disappointed with how things had turned out.

Upon plucking it free with a melodic clink, he noticed Eggman investigating the machine, tugging on his mustache as he examined the intricate setup much like a doctor would his patient.

He'd have to tell him that he was right about Sonic and the fact that he wouldn't be alone, as well as the fact that he would ultimately throw a wrench of gigantic and utterly catastrophic proportions into their plans of domination. The mere thought ever admitting failure left an aftertaste far worse than his cigar he had been lit up soon after the escapade had ended.

He flicked the piece of glass aside as a new headache began to emerge from within the twisted mess he once called a perfect plan: the Onyx was now free and running amuck on U.S. soil, and the drugs that had had been administered on a daily basis would soon be wearing off.

_Fuck,_ he mused angrily, looking side to side for anything that might unveil an idea that might get his butt out of the impending jam. _Everything's all fucked up because of that damned hedgehog._

However, upon seeing Eggman look over at him with an "I told you so," expression smeared all over his pretentious face, Craddock immediately felt an idea swirl within his head.

_However, there's always a plan 'B'._

"Well, Eggman, you were right," Craddock said stiffly, knowing he had gone against his own previous words, "Sonic wasn't alone."

Eggman cast an icy sneer to his partner in crime, as if already knowing all along. "Far be it for me to mince words, general, but all is not lost."

Unveiled from behind his meaty hand gloved in pure white rested the coal black emerald responsible for the chaos it had caused thus far. Beside it rested one of the fakes, cracked open and exposing Tails' intricate design of circuits capable of sending out traceable signals that had been used to navigate the base comfortably nestled within the faux gemstone.

"Apparently, our blue friend, upon taking Miss Rose from here, forgot some important things. Sonic's carelessness this time will be his undoing."

Eggman began howling with laughter as Craddock simply stood and watched with little interest.

"While that is fine and dandy," Craddock grumbled as the rotund doctor clad in red began a strange celebratory dance, "You forget that the Onyx is out of her cage."

Eggman quickly stopped upon hearing the problem.

"She's running around on U.S. soil, her medication unchecked and not updated, doctor."

Craddock could tell that his counterpart let the words sink deep, as a single bead of sweat formed just above his spectacles.

"Is that not what you wanted?" Eggman suddenly said with little confidence.

Craddock clasped his hands together in front of his mouth, his cigar rolling to one side of his mouth, the light blue wisps lazily following. It _was_ what he wanted, but not at the moment. No, his strategy had to pan out in order for it to work perfectly. Patience had to be a virtue, even if there were to be sidetracks along the way.

He snorted with a mocking smirk.

"Yes, but how we do it here, smart man, is much, much different that what you're accustomed to."

The genius grandchild of Gerald Robotnik raised a curious eyebrow, intrigued by the man's remark.

"I'm not sure I follow, sir," he bellowed.

Craddock laughed again as he bobbed his chin up and down on the tips of his joined hands.

"Eggy, we don't just go out and try to execute whatever plan we have up our sleeves and then tell ourselves 'oh, well, back to the drawing board' if it happens to be foiled by the cursed hero of the story. No, no, once it fails, it's over. The villain is put away for high treason so that he can never again pose a threat to the wonderful nation filled with the naïve and the gullible. We don't assemble a massive army and just push forward like our forefathers might have done anymore. No, we erode the confidence and the willpower of the secure and the insecure one little piece at a time until they've realized that they can do no more, and ultimately subject themselves unwillingly to those who will protect them, when all along it was their protector that had been unknowingly pulling their strings."

Eggman remained silent, obviously dumbfounded by the general's long-winded response.

"Puppets, Eggman," Craddock continued, motioning with his fingers. "Puppets. The people I used to serve and protect are nothing more than puppets to me, and to the rest of this government."

"So what does all that have to do with this?" Eggman finally asked.

"We can stop the Onyx, Eggman. But don't think for a moment that Uncle Sam wants to just up and quit on the world's most powerful weapon that can neatly snuff out those who oppress, and those who pose a threat to our way of life we want to impose on everyone else, and leave zero evidence that the U.S. was ever behind it."

"But I thought the President was the one who stopped this operation?"

"Right, as did the FBI. But don't think that the President holds the key to all power in this nation, Eggy. He is but a small percentage of power that people fail to realize. We run the country, Eggman, not the President."

"So your government doesn't want the Onyx to be eliminated now that it's running free?"

"They act like it around the President, as well as the general public so that their trust isn't broken with them, but believe me, they don't. They don't."

The proverbial light finally shone on Eggman's thoughts: The U.S. government was a lot like him in that its desires were menacingly large along with the attempts to fulfill those desires at any cost.

Craddock noticed, and a smile emerged.

"I see you now understand."

"So even if it means losing the President, the government intends to keep its secret weapon?"

Craddock smiled, his answer needing no words.

"Okay, then how will this involve us? I'm sure they all think we're dead after the last raid they performed on us. Well, except for that blasted Sonic. He could spill the beans, you know. They _adore_ him. They'll believe anything he says."

"Not if he's the one responsible for the Onyx."

Eggman snorted in disgust at the mere mention of trying to blame the blue-colored hero with anything anymore. He'd tried before, and almost pulled it off until Sonic finally uncovered the truth behind the synthetic lighting system meant to emulate sunlight when the moon Eggman had fixed after ARK had nearly destroyed it was automatically positioned in front of the sun. That discovery ultimately led to Eggman's arrest and humiliating jail time.

"Oh, no, Craddock. I've been down that road before," Eggman objected immediately. "It won't work."

"That's because you were the one behind the plan," Craddock confirmed, pointing his lit cigar at the portly man who now owned a look of utter shock at his genius being so openly insulted. "Eggy, Sonic and the others can see right through you. No one's going to believe that Doctor Eggman would actually prevent the President from being assassinated by an out-of-control cyborg that once used to be one of the heroes."

Eggman's left eye twitched as frustration and anger began to grow.

"Now, there are important people in Washington that know we still exist, and in order to keep things hush-hush, have established a special section of central intelligence that neither the President, Congress, or even the CIA itself knows about. It's these people that I have connections with, Eggman. It's these people that are going to realize that their beloved Sonic has infiltrated the secret base and willingly freed the Onyx with malicious intentions."

Eggman adjusted his pince-nez glasses and gingerly rested his back against the machine.

"I don't see how this is going to work, Craddock. They'll know the truth sooner than you think."

The former militant still clad in battle garb snickered as he made his way over to a chair stationed between a large flat screen monitor and a mahogany desk.

"Maybe, but by then, I--I mean _we_--will be selling their kind like hotcakes. Our operatives and connections will cover up all the nasty little details about the unknown, so all we have to do is just sit back and wait."

Craddock plopped down into the black leather chair and spun to face the screen that suddenly turned blue upon powering up. Eggman, dubious, could only shake his head as he walked over.

"Now, time to make some arrangements."

The screen quickly turned black as a small message began blinking in the upper right hand corner: CONNECTING.

In seconds, the face of an elderly man filled the screen, his face hard with concentration and concern at who had contacted him. Despite the evidence of age within the wrinkles that surrounded his eyes and mouth, the man still held a regal appearance. His hair was a perfect blend of light brown and gray, neatly combed so that not once hair seemed out of place, even if the stress level would increase tenfold. His eyes gleamed a light brown color, visible from behind the square glasses that would sometimes reflect Craddock's face in front of him.

"Craddock," the man snarled, obviously taken aback by the impromptu call. "What in God's name do you think you're doing contacting me like this? Don't you realize the trouble you can get me in just by me talking to you?"

"Senator Conrad," Craddock explained, faking a series of short breaths. "We've had an incident here."

Conrad's face stiffened even more, and his eyes wandered, as if hoping that no one could hear what had been said.

"An…incident?"

"The Onyx has been released, and is running on U.S. soil as we speak."

Craddock could see his connection to the political underworld grit his teeth. It was all he could do from smiling, but knew that doing so would blow his plan apart. He watched intently as Conrad disappeared for a moment, listened to the melodic sound of his door shutting and locking, returning, and then getting closer to the screen as if sharing a dirty little secret.

"How in God's name did this happen?" he whispered loudly, spittle forming at the corner of his mouth, an indicator of building frustration.

"You may not believe this, sir," Craddock continued, his portrayal of the broken down soldier remaining impressively intact, "but do you remember all the hype surrounding that Sonic individual?"

Conrad leaned back and rested his head on his hand, intrigued. "I do."

"He and his band of friends raided the base earlier today. They killed several of my men, ruined our research projects, and, during the fray, willingly released the Onyx knowing full well of its abilities."

For a moment, Conrad said nothing, nor moved. It was obvious that the general's story was very hard to stomach, let alone believe.

"You risked my job for _this?_" the senator clad in a navy suit and a bright red necktie hissed. "Is this some kind of sick joke?"

"I figured you'd be like this," Craddock snorted disapprovingly. "Give me a moment."

Cursing under his breath, the general spun around in the chair, ripped open one of the side drawers, and pulled out a small remote. He spun and faced the screen, and with just a few clicks, called up an inner window that turned out to be a video recording of the day inside the room the Onyx had been kept in, thanks to a hidden camera not even the blue streak himself knew about. With a sneer, the general sped through the uneventful sections until coming to the part where Sonic had burst through the terrarium, freezing it.

"Here's your proof, senator," Craddock snarled, clicking once more so that the windows swapped, enlarging Sonic's familiar figure so that it filled the entire screen.

Another moment and one click later, Conrad's shocked expression met Craddock's face, devoid of any expression. Obviously, the scene was something the senator never dreamed of seeing, for the blue hedgehog had been hailed a hero time and time again for ridding the threats Eggman had always placed upon the nation. But now, he appeared to have committed a most heinous act of treason, putting the President's like, and the career of Joseph Conrad, in serious jeopardy.

"This was taken earlier this morning, sir," Craddock continued, covering his satisfaction in seeing the reaction he had hoped to see. "The subject was joined by others, though the numbers were unknown. We are speculating that there were at least three in the party. In assessing the damage, we confirmed several soldiers executed and injured, eight in all. The last injection of tranquilizer serum was administered at twenty-one hundred hour, sir, so that means the injection will wear off within the next nine hours."

Conrad was stone-faced as Craddock continued his explanation of the next series of events once the effects of the tranquilizer would wear off, emphasizing on the fact that the implanted command within the chip would execute almost instantaneously.

"What is it you need from me, then?" the senator, and Chief Advisor to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, asked, leaning back in his chair, inquisitive, frustrated.

"My associate and I cannot be seen at the press conference," Craddock explained, "However, we do have on our staff a former agent. They don't know he's here, as he is still listed as active staff at the Department of Defense. You get him on security detail at the press conference, and we'll assure you that this little situation will be put behind us."

Conrad leaned in, his face wrinkled with concentration and aggravation. "Security detail will report three hours before the conference begins. I will see to it that he be put as a squad leader. You'd better be right, Craddock."

With that, the connection closed, leaving the two leaders behind the Onyx's existence alone with their thoughts.

"So what can you come up with in a couple of days, doctor?" Craddock asked with a grin, knowing his plan was working like a charm.

"Unfortunately, I can only use machines in the time that we have," Eggman replied matter-of-factly. "But I've used humanoid machines in the past that can be as nimble, just not as smart since I have to program their attack plans into their master CPU. But with the dark emerald's power, they should be able to find her in no time. My concern is about Sonic. I know he and his friends will show up and ruin everything like always."

A menacing smile curled around the general's stubby cigar.

"You leave them to me."


	18. Chapter 18

I had a lot of trouble with this chapter, which explains the time taken to upload it. Hopefully, it came out okay as now things begin to heat up for the team. Hope you all enjoy it!

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Sonic and all other various Sonic The Hedgehog characters are Copyright SEGA, Sonic Team, TMS Entertainment, and all other associations affiliated with the Sonic X anime/manga. All other characters belong to their rightful owner (me) and have no similarities with above-said characters whatsoever. Names used for other characters are random. Any people bearing the real name, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

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18

The group eyed the large double doors carefully, curious, impatient. For what lay behind those doors was a massive maze of hallways and doorways, and within that maze, somewhere, was their compatriot Rouge and their friend, Helen.

It felt as if days had passed by after they had returned back to Station Square more hastily than expected after Rouge had become increasingly incoherent and disoriented inside the cockpit of the X-Tornado, making a detour to the nearest hospital. But upon a lone clock that rested atop a wall of sky blue, it was apparent that only a few hours had passed.

Understandably shocked by the sudden reappearance of Sonic and the others, the hospital staff resembled more of a dumbstruck crowd frozen by both awe and respect for their hero. Those who had been in the waiting room before the unexpected arrival could only sit in silence and marvel, but at least sensitive enough to curb their curiosity and leave their questions safely hidden beneath their tongues.

With precision, the staff whisked Rouge away into the white-walled labyrinth, along with Helen, though her injuries paled in terms of severity. And it was there that they continued to reside, their conditions known only to the medical professionals that worked there.

"What's taking them so long?" Tails griped, his patience having finally grown too thin. "They've been back there forever, and we've heard nothing!"

Sonic paid no attention to the small orange fox that continued to voice his opinion on the lack of communication between doctors and the concerned. Instead, his focus was locked upon the thin layer of blue carpeting that showed signs of the very same frustration Tails felt, worn paths that wound around the floor, over to a soda machine, to a coffee pot, and toward a dilapidated phone hiding by a shadowy corner.

Aside from the obvious concern he felt for Rouge and Helen, he couldn't stop obsessing over the ill feeling that something bad was about to happen as a result of the microchip planted inside of Amy's head. No matter how optimistic he was since finding her alive, he could never quite shake that feeling free of his mind. He wanted to believe her promises that she would be fine, but just couldn't.

He causally glanced over to Amy, who was now holding her hand up to her head, rubbing her temples, and frowned a little. She was having another headache, which would make it three just from the time they had left Area 53 and returned to Station Square.

He bit his lower lip, frustrated at not knowing what to do. He knew Tails could easily deactivate the chip, but at what cost to Amy? The last thing he'd want to do is hurt her more than she's already been, both physically and emotionally.

Amy must have sensed Sonic staring at her, as she turned and looked back him, giving him a reassuring smile, though it did little to do so.

He refocused on the carpet and its intricate designs that made it look as if were moving, his thoughts switching over to Craddock and Eggman. He wondered what in the world would possess them to surgically insert something mechanical inside Amy's head, let alone anyone's head.

_What kind of sick, twisted plans were you two bastards up to, to do something like this?_ Sonic wondered. _Especially you, Eggman. You've concocted some crazy ideas, but this is beyond anything you've ever done before. This isn't like you at all._

Again, he glanced over at Amy and just stared at her. It was still hard to believe that after so much time had passed after assuming she was dead to the world, he would miraculously find her alive, and in the clutches of Eggman himself. He'd foiled his plan again, and retrieved both the emeralds and Amy. And yet, a nagging feeling that he hadn't completely stopped Eggman kept tugging at the back of his mind.

"What'cha thinking about, Sonic?" Amy asked as she slid into the chair next to him.

"Just some things," Sonic replied softly, careful to not let her prying eyes see through to his real feelings. "I noticed you rubbing your head again. Another headache?"

A little dejected, she shyly looked away, but nodded.

"Sonic, it's nothing. It's probably just a symptom of drug withdrawal. It's probably a good thing since that nasty crap is working itself out of my system."

She had a point, though Sonic would've felt better if it had been true.

A newsbreak suddenly interrupted his thoughts as Tails, who had been channel surfing to try and remedy his impatience, opted to let his curiosity focus on the stoic news anchor and his stiff complexion that seemed hell bent on delivering information on the upper echelons of professionalism.

Sonic let his curiosity best him, too, and concentrated on the television screen comfortably mounted just below the ceiling. He watched as the anchor rambled on about an important conference being held at the White House in regards to responding to the sudden and mysterious death of a rebel terrorist group leader which seemingly led to the demise of one of the largest cells within Ireland.

Accompanying videos followed that detailed how William O'Langley had held the upper peninsula of the small country practically in his grip with his daily ambushes of decorated officials, as well as pinpointed bombings of United Kingdom government venues. No one could get close, and any attempt to talk with the individual usually ended up being a series of demands upon his part.

The police and armed forces seemed genuinely pleased with the sudden demise of the rebel leader, but concerned at how one individual could infiltrate the heavily-guarded encampment to deliver a death blow using a mysterious weapon no one had ever seen nor could replicate based on the wounds found on the body.

Sonic's eyes widened as the anchor continued to explain that the newly elected leader of Ireland and the president of the US would be meeting in a couple of days to discuss a document that would strengthen ties between the two nations.

A horrific revelation sunk deep into the blue hedgehog's mind.

_So Craddock and Eggman used Amy as an assassin!_ Sonic mused, not helping but to look over at Amy, who had also taken a sudden interest in the newscast. _That's the reason they used the chaos emeralds and the microchip. They somehow artificially created chaos control to teleport her to the inside of O'Langley's base so that she wouldn't be noticed, then use some sort of command in the chip to give her precise information on where he was at. But why would Craddock suddenly want to play the good guy and help out the same country that had presumably killed him?_

Sonic looked away, grumbling in frustration under his breath at the fact that the whole thing that had just begun to make sense to him had suddenly turned an about-face.

"Sonic," Amy said softly, daring not to look at him. "Do you think I had a part in that man's death?"

Sonic quickly glanced over to Amy. Apparently, she had pondered the same thoughts. As much turmoil as she had been in, the blue hedgehog found it hard to feed her another lie.

"I don't know, Amy," Sonic replied softly. "I want to say no, but there are too many coincidences that make it hard to stick to that answer."

"I see."

Sonic could see tears beginning to well in Amy's eyes as her back and shoulders sagged with disbelief.

"Amy, the man was a terrorist," Sonic reassured. "His death probably saved a lot of lives."

"But that doesn't make it right!" Amy suddenly cried, grabbing the attention of the other people that had been there for the same duration. "It just doesn't make it right!"

"Remember, Amy, that it wasn't you who actually did these things. Eggman and Craddock controlled you, manipulated your thoughts with that chip that's in your head! They are the ones that did this, not you!"

Amy surrendered her emotional stance somewhat after Sonic's statement.

"I'm sorry, Sonic. I'm just…I'm just so confused right now. I don't know what is right and what isn't. I'm even more confused because all this happened without me ever even knowing about it."

A frown suddenly emerged as she looked over her black leotard that clung to her skin, the black rings gleaming from under the fluorescent lights above.

"I feel so used right now. I don't know how I can possibly live with myself knowing that someone else was inside my head, violating my every thought, forcing me to do these awful things."

"The bottom line, Amy," Tails suddenly added, "is that you, yourself, had zero part in this. None of this is your fault. They knew you'd never do such heinous things, so they used the chip to execute their commands."

The small fox quickly snapped his fingers, as a hypothesis exploded in his orange-colored head.

"Wait a minute. The X-Tornado has a device that can detect outgoing signals and decode them into readable text! I can find out what those commands are, then find a tracer to their originating point so that we can somehow knock the chip out of commission without having to surgically remove it!"

The idea sounded good to Sonic, though his blank stare might've suggested otherwise, but, understandably, there were concerns. Would it work? Would it put Amy at further risk of problems down the road?

A little dissatisfied with Sonic's lack of confidence in his obvious genius, the small fox understood his friend's reluctance to jumping into anything right away that even remotely sounded risky in the slightest.

"Well, it would be better than to try and surgically remove it, Sonic," Tails added smartly.

"All I'm hoping for is that there were no other commands left inside that chip when I got her out of that place," Sonic said, frowning slightly as he noticed Amy beginning to grimace, as if another headache was approaching, though she tried in vain to hide it. "I don't like the fact that she's getting all these headaches all of a sudden. If you think it'll be safe, then maybe it's worth a try. I'd like to know what's going on with Rouge and Helen before we go, though."

As if on cue, the double doors opened, and out stepped two doctors in their stereotypical garb most often seen on television models that only claim to be doctors. Behind them, a lone surgeon still sporting his teal outfit that hissed with every step.

The look on his face was serious, making Sonic draw in his breath a little quicker than he would've liked.

"Helen Thorndyke will be just fine, Sonic," the surgeon dutifully announced with little emotion. "Her wounds were minor, but she will certainly need some psychotherapy after release, as her mental stability is marginal at best. Had you not found her, Sonic, I don't know if she would've survived."

"It wasn't me who found her, doc," Sonic replied. "She went in with Helen."

The surgeon cast an uncomfortable glance to the other doctors, as did they to him.

"What? What was that all about? What's wrong?"

The surgeon curled his lower lip, contemplating the most sensitive way to deliver his news, which sat heavily upon the hearts of Sonic, Tails, and Amy.

"Sonic, the one you call Rouge is stable right now, but she's lost a lot of blood from the wounds she suffered," he said with little confidence. "They were perforation wounds, which meant the bullets went all the way through. While I'm not an expert in how to treat individuals such as her, I did know that some major arteries were damaged when the bullets exited, which led to the extreme loss of blood."

Sonic's gaze dropped from the surgeon's face to the floor.

"So what are you saying, doctor?" he asked, his voice tinged slightly with frustration. "Will she be okay?"

"All I can say is that she's stable for the time being. I got the bleeding to stop, and the wounds have been dressed and tended to. All we can do now is wait and see. That's all I can offer you, Sonic. I'm sorry."

With an emphatic sigh, Sonic reluctantly nodded, accepting the doctor's words.

"You may go in and see her if you like, but she will likely be sleeping. She's in room 1029."

The blue hedgehog gave him a long, hard look, and then slowly walked with the others toward the elevator, but before boarding, the doctor managed to catch his attention one more time.

"She's strong, Sonic. I think her chances for a full recovery are definitely in her favor."

Sonic gave him and uncomfortable smile and was swallowed by the elevator doors

----

Followed closely by Amy and Tails, the blue hedgehog crept down the hallway in search of room 1029, his presence heavily burdened by the many eyes that cast curious and awestruck stares his way. The silence, save the intermittent waves of electronic blips and clanking sounds of mechanical devices designed to stabilize those suffering from various injuries ranging from the trivial to the severe, as well as keep those on the brink of death just out of its cold fingertips, made the group understandably uncomfortable.

A man in black stood outside the door, his garb resembling those once worn by G.U.N. agents, now labeled F.B.I. on a large patch upon his right arm. Sonic knew that that had to be where Rouge was, as well as the fact that the F.B.I. had now gotten word of their infiltration of Craddock's base.

He approached the man, and was met back with a simple, emotionless stare. His only job was to prevent the unauthorized from entering, and no more. No conversation of any sort unless it meant contacting the headquarters. He studied Sonic for a short moment, then politely, but stiffly, moved aside and opened the door, his pistol in clear sight as if to announce the consequences of anything that might be regarded as threatening.

Almost immediately, Sonic noticed Knuckles standing in front of the large window, peering out through the small crack between the curtains that kept the room somewhat dark except for the dim light emanating from the bed which was hidden somewhat from the curtain that would normally divide the room into two, and the small crease of sunlight bleeding in from the window.

The echidna said nothing, his movements coming only from his deep breaths as he stood with his arms crossed, as if he were guarding Rouge much like he would the Master Emerald.

Cautiously, Sonic crept forward, anxious, yet reluctant to see her condition. He swallowed hard as the appearance of tubes and mechanical devices that sang their monotone lullabies began to appear as the bed came more into view. He wasn't ready to see what the surgeon had described to him.

But with one final step, he saw her lying in the bed, dressed only in the ugly smocks patients are normally given. Her appearance was disheveled, unkept, which was something she would never allow. Her arm was heavily bandaged, and several tubes snaked from her arm up to a cluster of bags that intravenously fed drugs to soothe whatever pain she might've been feeling, another to perhaps stave off whatever infections she might've incurred from the wounds that had been hastily tended to during their time at the base. Beneath the thin blankets, he could see where her leg had also been heavily bandaged.

Again, Sonic could not fathom the thought of ever seeing one of his comrades in such a state of distress, immobilized by wounds that had rendered her virtually helpless. Again, it wasn't supposed to happen to them; not to those who could easily dodge incoming laser beams, bullets, and missiles shot from a multitude of robots and other various gadgets built for one purpose: to bring down Sonic the Hedgehog.

And yet, there lay the fallen before him, downed by weapons made and used by man. Sonic and the others had literally risked their lives to save the very people that had nearly taken two of them with their crude weaponry.

Sonic could feel the hatred begin to burn within him again.

"You can just calm down, Sonic," Knuckles suddenly said, as if sensing his teammate's boiling point on the verge of being breached. "She's going to be fine. You just have to give her some time to recoup. Transfusions don't just work automatically, you know."

Sonic frowned in confusion as he eyed the echidna.

"Transfusion?" Tails asked, equally surprised and confused at the nonchalant candor Knuckles was displaying despite the woeful atmosphere around them. "Knuckles, you know no human could have a blood type that would match Rouge's!"

Slowly, Knuckles turned, wearing both his mocking smirk and a small bandage on his right arm.

"Who said anything about a human having a matching blood type?" he said.

"You mean--?" Amy started to say, but was interrupted by her own intuition.

"That's right. We match. The doctor was a little weird about it since he really didn't know all that much about our guts and stuff, but I let him know that it was safe."

"_You_ did?" Tails said sharply, folding his arms, as if dubious of the echidna's medical intelligence. "I've got to hear this."

Though frowning at the small fox's lack of belief, Knuckles ventured on with his theory of how he knew he and Rouge's blood types matched. But as he explained, garnering Sonic's and Tails' attention, Amy had made her way over to Rouge's bedside, paying no attention to his rambling words.

She stared down at her, watching her closely, watching her sleep amongst the tangles mess of tubes that connected her to various machines, and for a fleeting moment, flashed back to when she, too, was tangled in a similar web of intimidating tubes and wires that controlled her mind, her thoughts, and her emotions. She could feel another headache beginning to form, stronger than the previous ones.

She fought back the initial pains, and stared down at the floor, unable to cope with what she had seen.

_Rouge is like this because of me,_ she thought, now trying to stave off a wave of emotion. _Because of me, she now lies here, suffering, unable to move or speak. Because of me, she nearly died. I don't understand. Why me? Why did they choose me?_

Disgusted, tears beginning to find their way to the sides of her eyes, Amy began to tug at the black rings that seemed as if they had become permanent fixtures to her wrists. But despite her persistence, they did not budge an inch.

"No more!" she cried, continuing to pull and tug, her efforts becoming more and more vigorous as her emotions began to spill over. "I'm not your tool anymore, Eggman! You don't control me!"

After knocking over a chair in her rising desperation to rid herself of the ominous rings, she finally crumpled to the ground, her eyes red and swollen as she sobbed into her hands, defeated, as the rings remained in their place, steadfast and unyielding.

Hearing the crash of the chair, Sonic and Tails rushed over to her side.

"Amy?" Tails asked, kneeling, resting a comforting hand upon her shoulder. "What's wrong? What happened?"

"I can't take this anymore, Sonic!" Amy cried, burying her face into her hands. "Why me, Sonic? Why did they do this to me?"

Again, she began to pull at the rings, frantic, as if they burned. "It's these fucking rings, Sonic! I want them off of me! I want them off!"

"Amy, stop!" Sonic finally yelled, wrapping her in a tight bear hug from behind. "Stop."

He felt her finally give up, her back heaving as she began to sob once again. He felt helpless. He wanted so bad to just rip the rings off of her wrists and be done with them once and for all, but knew that there could be consequences; dire consequences. Were they connected to the microchip somehow? Was there a mechanism or a command that would instantly kill her if it were to be tampered with?

Not knowing frustrated Sonic, but it didn't lessen his grip any. He knew now was the time for Tails to find out how to deactivate that chip before things could get any worse.

"Tails, let's get her out there right now," Sonic said, resting his head against the back of Amy's, hopeful that it might calm her somewhat.

"Right, Sonic," Tails agreed, looking over to Knuckles, who seemed genuinely concerned.

Sonic peered up to see the agent and several nurses huddled up at the entrance to the door. He wasn't sure how long they had been there, or how much they had heard.

"Just overcome with a little emotion, that's all," Tails announced with a nervous laugh.

The nurses bought it, and quickly disappeared. However, the agent remained for a while longer, eyeing them all, suspicious. His hand lowered a little toward his pistol.

Tails continued to explain that Amy was just heartbroken at seeing her friend in the condition she was in as they meandered out the door and around the agent.

Knuckles, who had stopped at the door momentarily, turned and looked upon Rouge one last time with a long, sorrowful look before reluctantly leaving, silently promising her that he would return.

---

Amy had calmed enough to allow Tails to carefully clip two wires to her ear closest to the microchip, eagerly awaiting what Tails had to say as she watched him eye the small handheld device with a disconcerting frown.

She noticed that he was reading something, as his pupils darted back and forth to the melodic sound of the low blipping noise emanating from the device. She was curious, but reluctant for fear of either seeing the impending bad news, or seeing that the data being recorded was nothing more than a complex system of zeros and one only Tails could decipher into something sensible.

She felt another wave of pain begin to swell in her head, just behind her eyes, causing her to shut them and whimper.

_God, here comes the pain again,_ she mused through the persistent throbbing that made her head feel as if it were on the brink of exploding,_ stronger than ever. What's going on?_

She failed to notice that the two rings suddenly flashed an ominous purple, as did the others who were focused on the small LCD screen in the fox's hands, carefully studying the bank of numbers that had appeared, desperate to find a pattern that might explain what to do in terms of deactivating the chip.

But along with the brief flash of purple upon Amy's rings, the small monitor suddenly flashed a blinding white, causing both Tails and Sonic to flinch backwards, dropping the device to the ground.

"Whoa!" Tails exclaimed, quickly, but gingerly scooping the tool back up as if it were hot to the touch, "Did you see that, Sonic? What was that all about?"

"Don't know," the blue hedgehog replied, his look crossing over to Amy, who was now cupping her head and squinting as her headache had begun to intensify. "But I don't like it."

Slowly, the numbers began to re-remerge, but at the bottom of the list was something new: a simple line of text that caused the small fox to gasp in shock.

0000110001 SENDCMD &EXECUTELEADER .. & TMCNT: 1300:0010011::00110

"Sonic, you'd better come see this," Tails whispered, as if not wanting Amy to hear.

Unnerved by his teammate's sudden shift in demeanor, he cautiously peered down at the small screen and read the line of data just to the right of where Tails' finger pointed.

"Execute leader?" Sonic cited, confused.

"I think it means the leader of whatever group she was assigned to, Sonic," Tails whispered loudly, fear making his whispers crack, "Look. The first section is the actual command signal being sent from the chip. The second bank is the command itself, and the third is the time for which the command to commence."

Sonic's face paled. "You mean Amy's next command is to kill me?"

Tails could only look upon his teammate's face, crestfallen.

"I think he's right, Sonic," Amy suddenly chimed in, her face paled with both fear and pain as she tried so hard to fight back the inevitable sequence of events. "I wouldn't put it past Eggman to have inserted that command."

"So that's why they kept you knocked out all the time!" Sonic proclaimed, "It's so that the timed commands wouldn't go into effect if your thoughts weren't all in line."

He quickly turned toward Tails, who was looking at the screen again.

"Tails, you said there was a time when the last command entered would take place. When?"

"It says thirteen hundred hours," Tails recited before looking up in a state of horror. "One o'clock."

Sonic retreated a little and looked up at the sun that was almost directly over him.

"What time is it now?"

"It's too late, Sonic," Tails said with a worried gulp. "It's one o'clock now."

Almost immediately, Amy shrieked and fell to the ground, clutching her head, the rings now glowing a hauntingly beautiful shade of purple, enveloping her body in a cocoon of identically colored flames that greedily licked the air, as if searching for their target.

"Amy!" Sonic yelled, approaching her to try and help any way he could. But before he could even get close, Tails restrained him.

"Sonic, no!" he cried, desperate to try and pull him away. "You've got to get out of here!"

The flames suddenly stopped, and the glowing cocoon disintegrated in a prodigious explosion that knocked both the hedgehog and the two-tailed fox to the ground. From the proverbial core of the explosion arose Amy, her body now amassed in a fiery purple, her eyes lacking pupils, and black as the very suit she wore. Her expression was void, blank, as if she were possessed by some enigmatic evil that now controlled her body.

With a simple flick of her wrist, a golden glow appeared from within her hand, but as it appeared, it took not the shape of her normal Piko-Piko hammer, but of a long sword with a dark blade that shone menacingly in the innocent sunlight.

"Sonic, run!" Tails exclaimed, taking a fighting stance before the now approaching figure that once used to be their teammate. "You'll have to get past me if you want to get to Sonic, whoever you are!"

But his defense did little to stop her, as she nonchalantly dodged his attack, and with a simple outstretched palm and another flick of her wrist, tossed the small fox aside as if he were nothing more than a used-up cigarette.

"You bitch!" Knuckles yelled from behind the ominous figure, actually surprising as he grabbed her with a tight bear hug, causing her to drop the sword. "What are you doing--?"

The figure's face twisted with anger as she turned her head, the glow around her intensifying.

"Amy?"

She clinched her fists, producing a jolt of energy that bucked the echidna off her back, sending him careening toward the ground. Obviously disgusted at being confronted by an unworthy opponent, she opened her right hand, allowing the sword to levitate back up to it.

The echidna was undaunted by the breaking of his hold, and charged back toward the glowing figure, yelling.

"Knuckles!" Sonic yelled as he helped Tails to his feet.

A sly smirk appeared on the figure's face, as if amused by the senseless poise her hapless challenger was affronting. She tucked the sword behind her back and mounted her own charge.

Knuckles watched the figure leap into the air as he drew back his spiky fist, eyeing her carefully, calculating where she would land so that his uppercut would connect perfectly and end the charade.

However, upon seeing the long sword glisten and gleam as the figure held it over her head, ready to slice, his charge became more of a dodging tactic.

He dove behind a tree as the sword slashed mere inches above his head. A crack followed, and then the tree lazily fell to one side, the single cut, glowing red as if it had been set ablaze, having gone clean through the entire trunk. Just behind it stood Amy as the Onyx.

"Holy crap!" Knuckles exclaimed, quickly scrambling aside after a brief appraisal left him both intimidated and impressed. He managed to make to Sonic's side as he watched the figure slowly approach them. "Sonic, what in the world is going on? What's happened to Amy?"

"It's the microchip," Sonic said fearfully as the figure causally made her way to them. "It's activated somehow and the last command programmed in is to kill me."

Knuckles clinched his fists and dug his back foot into the ground. "Well, it ain't going to happen, Sonic."

Again, he charged, only to have his fist be caught by Amy's hand inches before it could hopefully knock some sense back into her head. The echidna gasped in shock before he was upended by a furious series of kicks to his abdomen, and his beaten body tossed aside like a mere paper bag before resuming her approach toward Sonic.

"I've got her, Sonic!" Tails yelped, having dug out another device that resembled a taser.

But the small fox's courage was immediately stopped, as she caught his wrist and released a barrage of electric jolts that emanated from the ominous glow. In moments, she dropped his limp body to the ground and moved on, leaving him moaning in excruciating pain.

Sonic backed away until he ran into the nose of the X-Tornado, allowing her to close in on him.

_Damn it, _Sonic thought as she neared his face,_ why can't I fight back?_

He awaited his death as she grabbed him by the neck, closing his eyes. But instead of death, he felt himself be thrown aside.

"What the--?" he said, watching her climb up to the cockpit. He followed. "Aren't you supposed to be trying to kill me?"

She ignored him and fired the engines, immediately taking off and sending the blue hedgehog back to the ground with a painful thud. Thoroughly confused, he could only watch as the jet eventually flew out of sight.


	19. Chapter 19

Sonic and all other various Sonic The Hedgehog characters are Copyright SEGA, Sonic Team, TMS Entertainment, and all other associations affiliated with the Sonic X anime/manga. All other characters belong to their rightful owner (me) and have no similarities with above-said characters whatsoever. Names used for other characters are random. Any people bearing the real name, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

* * *

Boy, do I apologize for the delay! I'm sure you've all heard the famous excuses, but my hard drive did execute a major crash that wiped out everything (thank GOD for flash drives!). I ordered another hard disk, but it took freaking forever for it to arrive for some odd reason, then I find out that the jumper settings weren't correct, so it took me another few days to figure that out, then it was time for good ol' Office to suddenly not like Leopard...crashing on almost every load.

THAT BEING SAID, I was finally able to finish this chapter. I do hope you enjoy it! Hope everyone had a good Christmas and New Year's!

* * *

19

Sonic stared at the tiny speck that used to be the X-Tornado, wondering what had gone wrong with the sequence of events. The command was very clear in the gobbledygook only Tails could decipher consistently: Execute the leader.

He was supposed to be dead, as he was the anointed leader of the group. Perhaps not legally, but by sheer popularity and respect.

_I don't get it, _he mused, rubbing his behind as it still smarted a little after being tossed to the unforgiving ground so easily.

"So what the hell was that all about?" Knuckles growled, favoring his midsection.

"I don't know, Knuckles," Sonic replied, still not taking his stare from the sky where the speck had since vanished. "I don't know. I saw the command. It said to kill to the leader. Why did she not come after me? I don't get it."

"I sure got it," Tails moaned, slowly rising to his feet, holding his midsection as if trying to prevent his insides from spilling out. Every square inch of his fur now stood on end thanks to the pulverizing dose of electrical charges Amy had administered to him. There even seemed to be a stale stench of burnt hair that lazily hung over him, causing the mouths and noses of his teammates to wrinkle a bit.

"Oh, man," Sonic said, rushing over. "Tails, are you okay?"

The small fox licked his hand and tried to mat down some of the fur on his arms, but watched it pop right back up. "Other than the feeling that I've just put my tongue on a car battery, I'll be fine."

"What?" Sonic asked, but quickly retorted for fear of his companion going off on an unnecessary tangent. "Never mind. We don't have time for that. We need to follow her."

"Sonic, we don't have the X-Tornado. You might be able to catch her, but what about us? We don't even know where she's going."

Frustrated, the blue hedgehog kicked at the ground as he looked over toward the felled tree that had narrowly missed a pod of parked cars. Obviously, the chaos had stirred up the curious, as they were now meandering toward Sonic and the others, having spotted the X-Tornado's hasty exit.

"Hang on, hang on," he griped, closing his eyes to try and think of just where Amy might've sped off to, "Give me a second."

_Execute the leader,_ he told himself, looking at nothing in particular, rather, envisioning anything that might make sense._ I thought that I was the target. But if it's not me, then who is it?_

A surprising revelation suddenly sprang into his mind and jerked him out of his trance.

"Tails, can you dig up anything else on that device of yours you had on Amy? Anything readable?"

"Just the command to execute that O'Langley guy," Tails answered, already fidgeting with the controls on the small LCD screen. "But his was just a bunch of numbers, nine total, like some sort of ID, mixed in with the command sequence."

"I ask because now I'm wondering if the command was to kill the leader of whatever country she was assigned to. If my hunches are right, O'Langley was the leader of that country by the way that news program put it. It sounded like he forcefully made himself the leader and everyone just accepted it so that they wouldn't be killed."

"If that's the case, then," Knuckles added with a slight touch of fear. "Then her next target is…is…oh hell."

He suddenly quieted and cast an intensely concerned stare toward Sonic.

"The President of the United States," Sonic said, understandably shaken.

"Craddock wants to overthrow the government!" Tails added, equally disturbed by the reality of it all. "And Eggman's on his side, too! Sonic, this is bad! This is really bad!"

"Let's not get all panicky," Knuckles added with a touch of confidence. "If you all remember last time we were at the White House, it was crawling with security, much like those goons we met up with at Area fifty-three. They won't let her get near him."

"If that's the case, then Amy's life is at risk," Sonic said sharply. "Is that what you're getting at?"

The echidna could sense the frustration and resentment beginning to build within his teammate's small stature.

"Sonic, she's not herself anymore. You saw what happened when the clock struck one! She tore through us like it was nothing! They'll be lucky to stop her, but at least they'll have numbers where there were only three of us before. Their chances are better."

Without warning, Sonic suddenly backhanded the echidna, sending him to the ground with a resounding thud.

"You bastard!" he hissed, standing tall as Knuckles looked up him, shocked. "How can you just write her off once again after we risked everything we could in getting her back?"

The echidna growled in disgust at the blue hedgehog's stubbornness, but held back his urge to knock some sense into his head.

"Sonic," Knuckles said gruffly as he rose to his feet, "Think about what you're saying. We didn't risk everything to save her. We had gone there only to get back the chaos emeralds. We only found Amy because she happened to be there already. I don't want to write her off, either, Sonic, but this whole world is on the verge of falling into Eggman and Craddock's hands. Are you really willing to risk that just to save one life even you don't know can be saved or not?"

"He's right," Tails suddenly, and glumly, added. "As much as I don't want anything bad to happen to Amy, it might be the only way they can be stopped. I'm sorry, Sonic."

Sonic glared at both Tails and Knuckles, a sign of emotion beginning to well up in his eyes. He was distraught, unable to fathom why they would suddenly give up on him, and on Amy, when they were so close to going home. He didn't want to give up on Amy. He had promised her that he'd never leave her again, and until the last breaths of his life would fall free from his mouth, he'd uphold that promise.

In years past, he would've been quick to judge for the benefit of the people, even if it meant sacrificing himself. He'd seen it first hand when Shadow knocked him aside in his final charge toward the unstable planet overtaken by the Metarex. Whether or not the ebony-colored brethren to Sonic survived the forced chaos control to transport the collapsing sphere into a different time, it was the fact that he put himself in harm's way so that everyone else could survive.

Had Shadow not acted, it would've been Sonic lost somewhere in the wrinkle of time or space, or perhaps somewhere in between where only mysteries and imaginations spawn freely.

He turned around so that his deteriorating confidence that Amy could still be saved would not be seen by his teammates. But he knew they could easily see through his guise. They knew that age had changed him and how he felt about Amy. Long had he been the carefree spirit, refusing to remit himself to the arms of his admiring pursuant. But now, as age began to turn the tides of responsibility, so had his spirit, moving to something more calm and sustainable with subtle desires to share that newfound sense of settlement with someone close in mind.

"Sonic," Knuckles continued, calming, resting a hand upon the hedgehog's shoulder, "I wish things could be different, but I don't know if they can now or not. Please understand what I'm trying to say."

Sonic knew Knuckles was right for once, but still could not shake that one last glimmer of hope that somehow, someway, she could still be saved despite the insurmountable odds stacked against him.

Though the super fast hedgehog would vehemently deny such a thing, love will sometimes lead to desperate measures.

"No," Sonic replied smartly.

"No?" the echidna said, rather shocked at the response when he thought all along that he was making headway. "What do you mean, 'no'?"

"I'm not giving up on her again, Knuckles. There's got to be a way to deactivate that chip, and I know Tails can find it."

"Sonic," Tails added sheepishly, perhaps cautious to not let the cold hard facts of reality rain down on the hedgehog's parade of hope. "The only thing that might somehow work would be a series of magnetic waves that would erase the electronic signals being sent from the chip to wherever it connects with her brainwaves. Even then, I'd have to try and find some way to stun her long enough for it to work effectively. If it's incomplete, who knows what could happen, Sonic. It could kill her."

Sonic sighed and looked to the sky for a moment, as if he had accepted his friend's stern warning.

"But it's the only chance we have at saving her."

"I don't think you understand what I'm saying. This is messing with her brain. If so much as one single part of it doesn't work the way we want it to, she could be a vegetable for the rest of her life, or dead. Is that the chance you really want to take? Sonic, she's practically alien to us. She tore through us like we were not even standing there."

Tails could see his friend becoming more and more perturbed at the constant delivery of pessimism, even though it was true. Still, though, Sonic dug at every chance he could at saving her one more time, biting his lower lip in intense thought.

"Was this not the last command sequence you saw?" he asked.

"Yeah, but I doubt that it would just be left at that with nothing else behind it. Knowing Eggman, he probably added some sort of looping mechanism to it so that it would always revert back to that same command. She'd just keep killing every leader until the chip is given an end sequence command, deactivated, or…"

"Or what?"

"…Or she dies."

Muttering an unpleasant word, Sonic jerked his head away; frustrated at the stalemate he was in. No matter what angle he took, it always ended up with the worst scenario. The only remote possibility at saving Amy that was left was to venture back to Tails coming up with a contraption that would both stun her and administer the correct levels of magnetic waves that would hopefully erase the signals emanating from the chip. It was incredibly risky, but it was now his only chance.

"Sonic, I know this sucks," Knuckles added, placing a consoling hand on his shoulder, "But there's nothing that can be done now. I wish there was a way, but there's not."

Sonic looked coldly at Knuckles hand.

"Yeah there is, Knuckles," the hedgehog said sharply. "It's called not giving up on her again. If Tails can say that the chip can be deactivated by using magnetic waves, then that's what we're going to do, even if it means doing it myself."

He looked over to Tails, who was lost in thought. Obviously, he knew his words weren't going to sway the hedgehog in any manner, so he began pondering any and all ideas that might work.

"No sense doing that, Sonic," Tails said, keeping his finger placed firmly on his chin, and his eyes on the ground, "She'll make light work of you, regardless of your strength or speed. No, I was just thinking of how I can rig up a device that'll use the electrical impulses from the taser I tried to use earlier as well as the magnetic waves the X-Tornado has inside its radar jammer."

A smile finally came to Sonic's face.

"I'm sure you'll figure it out, buddy. Thanks."

_I hope so, Sonic._ Tails prayed to himself, smiling lightly to try and hide the uncertainty of whether or not his idea would actually work that weighed heavily on his heart.

"Well, the last thing you need, then," Knuckles added, slapping Tails' back smartly, "Is someone to get close enough to distract her so that Tails' can do what he needs to do. I was able to get close last time, I can do it again."

Sonic nodded in approval, glad to see that his friends not be tempted to give in, though it took a little stubborn prodding on his part.

"Sounds like we've got a plan, then," he said with confidence. "Now, let's go get Amy back!"

"Sonic, we've got just one little problem," Tails added, stopping the supersonic hedgehog before he took off. "How are we going to get there? She took the X-Tornado, remember?"

Sonic curled his lip in disgust and, again, mumbled an unpleasant word before spotting someone causing a ruckus among the small crowd that had gathered around them. The string of profanities rumbled directly behind Chris as he burst through, coming face to face with his blue-colored hero.

"Chris?"

"Sonic, what in the world happened out here?" Chris asked while gasping for air, staring at the fallen tree and Tails, still singed dark brown. "There was a bunch of commotion from people seeing some weird purple glow, then the lights started blinking as if they were all about to go out, and then they began to brighten big time as if there was some power surge of epic proportions running through the building. Then I hear your name called out, so I come running out and I see this huge tree cut in half like it was a stick of butter."

"We had a small problem come up," Sonic replied nonchalantly, raising his hands to his chin, thinking, plotting. "Say, does your dad still have that helicopter from his business?"

"Uh…yeah," Chris said, taken aback by the question, as if Sonic suddenly had no regards to the chaos that had just happened. "He signed it over to me after I got my pilot's license. Why?"

***

Chris, donning the co-pilot's helmet and headset, grumbled as he sat back in the seat, arms crossed, and a look of utter disgust wrinkled on his face. Every now and then, he would cast a sharp stare toward Tails, who manned the controls even though it was Chris who owned the legal pilot's license.

He glanced over to Knuckles, who was perched upon one side of the landing skids, then over to Sonic, just over his right shoulder, perched on the other side. Though glad to see them, the manner in which they reunited was a little more abrupt that he cared for.

"Okay, Tails," he barked, finally unable to hold his tongue any longer. "Do you mind telling me what in the world is going on and where we're going?"

"Washington," Tails replied, keeping his hands firmly gripped upon the steering mechanism. "The microchip inside Amy's head executed a command to kill the leader, and now she's headed to Washington to fulfill that command."

Chris shook his head and chuckled mockingly.

"Whoa, whoa. Wait a minute. Amy is going to assassinate the president? President Beamon?"

Tails cast a discerning look toward Chris, as if to confirm his statement as being true.

"Oh," he said softly, hiding something.

Tails noticed right away, curling one eyebrow at the susceptibility behind the reaction.

Chris pursed his lips, cursing himself silently for letting the proverbial cat out of the bag, but said nothing, only jerked his head away and looked out the window, out at Sonic perched on the landing skids. He could feel the guilt and regret squeezing on his chest.

It wasn't until a refueling near the middle of New Mexico did Tails finally approach Chris while the helicopter was being tended to by mechanics that had finally been shaken free of their awestricken gaze that had frozen them in place, having never seen Sonic the Hedgehog, or his companions, other than in a video game or a comic book.

The small fox looked at Chris sitting on a curb that faced the hangar where the helicopter was being serviced. His shoulders sagged, and his expression was one of guilt, regret, and sadness. He knew that there was something amiss, and that Chris knew that he would no longer be able to hide whatever it was he had been hiding, for Rouge had been right: he had betrayed them by tipping off Craddock of their arrival.

But as the small fox looked upon his friend and his state of distress, he also knew that he was still a friend no matter what.

"You okay, Chris?" he asked, sitting next to him, cautious to approach the delicate situation. "You've been quiet. That's not like you."

Chris cast a quick sideways glance toward the yellow-orange fox before looking back toward the helicopter.

"I'm fine," he replied flatly. "Just thinking, that's all."

"What about?"

Chris sighed emphatically, defeated. There was nothing more to hide. His job was already done. He had betrayed his friends and fed them a long line of lies to ensure Helen's safety.

Now was the time for Tails to know what had transgressed, though Chris assumed he had already figured it out with his simple request to explain his quietness.

"Tails, you probably know by now that Craddock knew you, Sonic, and the others were going to go to the base after they had supposedly taken the fake chaos emeralds as bait. They knew because I told them."

Though it wasn't anything he hadn't heard already from Sonic, the mere fact that Chris admitted to it sent a faint pang of pain across Tails' gut, and it showed.

"Tails, please let me explain. I didn't know what to do. Craddock had Helen hostage and was threatening to kill her if I didn't hand over Sonic and the emeralds. I panicked, so I came up with that phony story about the energy people asking about the emeralds and stuff. I figured that you guys could easily beat Eggman like you always do, so that's why."

Tails crossed his arms and looked over at the helicopter, still trying to stomach what he had been told.

"Well, because of all this, Rouge is now lying in a hospital bed with wounds in her arm and leg. She's lucky she's even alive, Chris."

Eyes closing, Chris could hardly fathom the news.

"She was shot by Craddock's men."

Chris slowly hung his head.

"Dear God, Tails. I never intended for this to happen. I only wanted Helen back, alive and safe. Please believe me, Tails. You know I'd never do this…to you…to Sonic…"

Tails watched Chris crumble into a fit of emotion, burying his face into his hands, his back heaving. He felt sorry for his friend, for what he had been thrown into along with them all.

He reached over and patted Chris' back, consoling as best as he could.

"What is everything coming to?" Chris moaned between sobs, "Why is this happening?"

"I wish I knew," Tails replied softly, leaning on a hand. "But we'll figure this out somehow."

Somewhat composed, Chris slowly revealed his face that was now stained with paths where tears had streamed down his cheeks and onto his goatee.

"I don't know if we can," Chris shot back flatly.

The small fox jerked his head slightly, confused.

"Tails, this is the government we're talking about, here. It may be this group headed up by Craddock now, but do you really think they're just going to let this up and fade away into oblivion?"

Tails' eyes began to sink inward, driven by the fear that now began to rise within him.

"Chris, what are you trying to say?"

Angry, Chris abruptly rose to his feet.

"Think about what happened with ARK, Tails. That thing had been in orbit for decades after the alleged incident. We could've destroyed it, but they left it because they knew of its potential. They just didn't want Robotnik having all the fun with his science experiments, that's all. They just wanted a reason to remove him so that they could get their grubby hands on what they thought would be the most powerful weapon since the invention of the atomic bomb. So, they made one up about the accident, and the rest is history. Now with this, the whole process may start all over again."

"Which is all the more reason we need to stop babbling and get going," said Sonic as he walked up behind Chris, startling him somewhat. "Amy's got a huge head start, and all we've got is this helicopter. If we could only find something a little faster."

But before spotting anything that might get them to Washington quicker than their current method, a sudden explosion rocked the hangar in which their helicopter had been housed, knocking everyone who had been nearby to the ground. Flaming shrapnel began to rain down as chaos ensued.

Behind the curtain of oily black smoke that began to smear the sky arose a jet that bore an eerie resemblance to the Beetles GUN had fabricated from Eggman's robots that had been destroyed by Sonic's hands.

Sonic's eyes widened, as he knew that there was now no chance to escape.


	20. Chapter 20

Sorry for the delay, everyone. Things have been increasingly busy, as well as tough mentally as I've endured the loss of a close friend and a relative of recent. But, here is Chapter 20. Hopefully, things will begin to calm down so that I can upload more chapters in a timely fashion. Sorry again, but I do hope you enjoy this chapter, and, as always, thanks for reading!

* * *

Sonic and all other various Sonic The Hedgehog characters are Copyright SEGA, Sonic Team, TMS Entertainment, and all other associations affiliated with the Sonic X anime/manga. All other characters belong to their rightful owner (me) and have no similarities with above-said characters whatsoever. Names used for other characters are random. Any people bearing the real name, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

20

Sonic slowly rose to his feet while casting trepidatious stares out toward the ravaged areas reduced to flaming rubble courtesy of the GUN aircraft that now intimidatingly hovered mere yards in front of him. A quick appraisal relieved him when he failed to see any casualties, but did little to ease the ever-rising tension he felt from seeing the panicked flee blindly to anything that might yield them cover, or simply get them as far away as their running feet could possibly get them.

He managed to locate Knuckles and Tails huddled together behind a small storage shed, apparently unnoticed and assumed swallowed by the initial blast.

A devious smirk curled his lip, and the hedgehog nonchalantly brushed away the pebbles and dust that had clung to his body. He dug his fist into his sides and promptly issued his attitude-driven challenge to the pilots with a single one-fingered salute.

"You've got to be part of Eggman's group to have aim like that!" he shouted toward the gleaming vehicle as he twirled around as if showing off a fancy new outfit. "Not even a scratch!"

There was a brief pause, and then a machine gun turret popped out of either side of the golden war machine, both aimed to silence the boastful hedgehog.

Sonic immediately noticed, crouched into a fighting stance, and looked over to his companions. "Time to dance."

Precision and perfect timing, along with an overabundance of confidence was all he needed to adroitly dodge the vicious onslaught of gunfire that ripped apart the various helipads as he led it away from the fox and the echidna, showcasing his various moves to further insult and enrage the pilots that had to have become more and more frustrated at their feeble attempts to doom the annoying blue streak.

Knuckles, barely able to contain himself from wanting to both rescue and murder the presumptuous hedgehog for his antics, slammed a fist into the side of the shed, nearly toppling it. "What the hell is that bastard doing?! He's going to get himself killed out there!"

Tails, with a bear hug around the echidna's waist, managed to peek out between his legs to see his longtime pal continuing to taunt the pilots and its crewmen aboard the jet that hovered menacingly overhead, effortlessly dodging the seemingly unending array of gunfire, immediately figuring out what his slapping of his backside to induce a barrage of mini missiles was all about.

"He's not going to get himself killed," he said, struggling to keep Knuckles from blowing Sonic's obvious plan. "He's distracting them!"

"Distracting them?" Knuckles asked, calming somewhat as he watched the pint-sized genius suddenly dart out from behind the shed and toward the gold-emblazoned vehicle.

"This is our ticket to Washington, Knuckles! C'mon!"

The proverbial light bulb emerged over the echidna's head as he looked upon Sonic laughing as he backpedaled away from a beam of red that carved a single line into the ground, ever-so-close to the hedgehog's red and white shoes, but frustratingly out of reach.

Knuckles snorted in curt amusement, then dashed out toward Tails while Sonic took notice, lending a supportive smile.

It wasn't long before a sensory klaxon had located the sprinting fox, for another turret rolled out from the other side, swiveling to face him.

"Shit!" Knuckles hissed, knowing his counterpart had not seen the gun emerge.

Though his knuckles were spiny and heavily weighted to allow for his legendary and often underestimated power to shine through, his body seemed to be ultra light, making for tremendous jumps and the ability to glide for amazing distances. The jump he made to reach the bottom of the airship was nothing different than those he'd made to Angel Island many times before, and with a hefty slam of his fists, he clung to the bottom side of the surprisingly malleable material.

He scowled at the turret as it madly rotated with each round of gunfire and began a vicious approach to render it useless, a trail of holes courtesy of his fists left behind. In mere seconds, all that was left was a useless mishmash of wires and sparks that harmlessly sputtered in agony.

The echidna looked out and noticed that the gunfire had, thankfully, missed the petite fox, for he had taken to the air after twirling his twin tails until they formed an orange-colored propeller.

They exchanged quick thumbs up and met upon the top of the airship, huddled together by what looked like the main hatch that led to the interior.

"How many do you think might be in there?" shouted Tails over the raucous chorus of gunfire and artillery shells that continued their effortless assault on Sonic.

"Doesn't matter," Knuckles replied as he drew up a fist, ready to make light work of the door.

"They might be armed, though!"

Knuckles retorted a simple snort, but before he threw his fist down, he noticed that the handle began to twirl. Someone was on the way out!

Tails managed to get the echidna's attention, beckoning him to get over to where he was, having spotted the hinge on the door. Slowly, the hatch rose, shielding the two stowaways behind it, and a lone soldier popped his upper body out, a pistol gripped tightly in his hand.

He looked side to side, hoping to catch site of one who destroyed their gun, but in only hearing the sounds of war below, and the whistle of the wind cascading over him, he put the pistol back up and reported an all clear back to the others.

It was when he looked back to shut the hatch that he noticed Knuckles standing over him, his hand on the door.

For a moment, there was a stalemate, as each waited for the other to make the first move. Unfortunately, it was the soldier who blinked first, looking down to grab for his pistol.

But it was Knuckles who reacted fastest, viciously slamming the door heavily on the soldier and knocking him back down into the belly of the airship.

"Gimme a couple of minutes," Knuckles instructed before ripping the door completely off of its hinge and diving down into a clamor of shouts and gunfire.

Tails couldn't bear to watch, and knelt away, fearing the worst. But that was cut short when the echidna's head popped out of the hole.

He looked at Tails shielding himself. "What're you doing?"

The small fox peeked out between his fingers at the echidna with his fists planted into his sides and an expression of disgust wrinkled on his face. Once he saw that he had overreacted, he sheepishly rose to one knee. "I heard the commotion and the guns down there…and I…I…"

"Thanks for the bit of confidence. Here, help me out."

The echidna reached back down into the entry as if he were a child eagerly reaching into a cookie jar, and dragged up the pilot by his collar, a shiner protruding from his forehead.

"Bastard tried to jump me," Knuckles laughed as he tossed him aside like an unwanted bag of trash. "When will they ever learn, Tails?"

"What about the others?" Tails replied, awestruck at how quick the echidna had rendered everyone aboard useless.

"Oh, they're still down in there. They're all taking a little nap right now."

Tails' eyes widened. "So…who's flying the ship?"

Knuckles frowned in deep thought, and he looked back into the airship. "Crap."

Sonic stopped his array of dodging moves that resembled a crazy dance sequence and stared at the airship as it suddenly pitched down to the ground in his direction. Not a flinch was to be seen as he eyed the gleaming vehicle cascade down in the ground, ripping up chunks of dirt and asphalt as it inched closer and closer to him.

He chuckled and crossed his arms as the giant vehicle slowly came to a rest mere feet from the hedgehog's face.

Tails popped his head out of the hatch and waved to Sonic. "Good to go, Sonic! Let's go!"

Sonic looked at the ravaged vehicle that had been dented in all sorts of places, a gun turret that had been reduced to a smoking lump, and the newly-added array of ripples to the nose courtesy of the short freefall, and laughed. "Good to go?"

Tails scratched his head and chuckled, as if embarrassed. "Well, it still flies, at least."

Knuckles emerged from a side entrance, dragging out the unconscious crewmen out by their collars and resting them upon what was left of a helipad.

"These boys won't be bothering us anymore," Knuckles said proudly, wiping his hands.

Sonic shook his head and smiled at Knuckles as he had obviously fulfilled his desire to fight a good fight, even if he had full advantage with speed and strength on his side opposed to the humans who relied on their mechanical weaponry too much.

The lighthearted moment didn't last long, though, for Sonic spotted a familiar logo emblazoned on one of the crewmen's flight regalia: FBI.

_FBI? _Sonic wondered as he leaned down to get a closer look. _I thought these guys were on our side._

Bothered by what he saw, the hedgehog plucked the walkie-talkie free from agent Boniss' (as it indicated on his embroidered ID patch) belt and instinctively pressed the 'Send' button.

A familiar voice crackled across the speaker. "Agent Boniss? This is HQ, go ahead."

"Topaz?" asked Sonic, becoming more concerned that what Chris had talked about may have, in fact, had some factuality to it.

"Sonic?" responded Topaz, her voice obviously drenched in confusion despite being altered by the small speaker. "What are you doing with agent Boniss' walkie-talkie?"

"Maybe I should ask you why you ordered Boniss and his band of merry men to ambush us."

"Ambush? Sonic, what are you taking about? What's going on?"

Sonic looked out over the destruction that continued to burn, confused. "You didn't send orders to five men armed with a big ugly piece of crap aircraft to try and stop us from getting to Washington?"

An uncomfortable silence perforated the air around the hedgehog before Topaz's voice finally scratched over the walkie-talkie: "Sonic, those men were ordered to assist roadblock operations with the Secret Service in Washington; my orders."

"Well, they're in," Sonic stopped and looked to Chris, who mouthed their location to him. "New Mexico, having destroyed the small airport we're at."

"New Mexico?!"

Sonic drew back the screeching walkie-talkie from his ear, wincing from the loud response that also alerted Knuckles, Tails, and Chris as they worked on one of the engines on the aircraft that had suddenly begun to emit smoke and sparks from where it had impacted the ground.

"New Mexico. Apparently, Craddock and Eggman are still alive, and their little project is now headed toward Washington to dispose of your president, as that was the last order programmed into her head."

Another uncomfortable silence unnerved the hedgehog.

"Topaz?"

"Sonic, Craddock and Eggman cannot be alive. The report given to me was official. They perished in the explosion."

Sonic's eye began to twitch in frustration.

"Listen to me, Topaz. I saw them. They are very much alive and headed to your location. I know this because they used Amy to do their dirty work of assassinating important people. They used some kind of mind control gadget powered by the chaos emeralds that gives her unbelievable power that only we are able to stop. I don't have time to explain everything. She's on her way there now. I need you to call off the event tomorrow and let us get in there and stop her before something bad happens."

A different voice suddenly boomed over the walkie-talkie, startling Sonic at first, "Denied, Sonic. I'll not have everyone in a panic over some made-up story about those two still being alive!"

"What?" Sonic bellowed loudly, unable to fathom why his stern warning was being ignored. "Who is this?"

"Chief Advisor to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Topaz's superior, if you're so inclined to know."

"Mr. Joint or whatever you just called yourself, you don't know what you're doing. I saw them with my own two eyes. They had hostages at their base! Now they're on their way to Washington to do who knows what with their new weapon!"

"Enough of this! I've heard enough of this nonsense! Consider yourself banned from the capital, Sonic! I'll not have you create a chaos-=induced stampede with this bullshit you're trying to feed me!"

"Hey--!"

Sonic could hear the senator continuing his loud tirade that contained words of hallucination and treason, but it was Topaz's voice that came back through the walkie-talkie.

"Sonic, it would probably be in your best interest to not be anywhere around Washington," she said, obviously deflated from having to abide by the rules set forth by her superior. She knew Sonic had never led them astray, and to think that he would concoct such a story was outright preposterous, but her job was at risk, and that job was to protect the president first, and then the people. She knew that panic might ensue if he were to show up suddenly, announcing the very dangers he had shared with her and senator Conrad. "I'm sorry."

"Topaz, you've got to listen to me! I'm not—"

He heard the click that severed the connection, and cursed when his attempts to reconnect failed. He looked over to Chris.

"Sonic?" the young man asked, obviously concerned with what had transpired, but also a little fearful of why he was being given such a cold hard stare.

"You were right, Chris," the hedgehog admitted. "They're not about to give up their one shot at taking control over this world."

Chris searched for words to express his discontent over the matter, but simply could not find any.

"But I'll be damned before I let that happen. Not while we're around. Not while I'm around. Tails, can this thing fly?"

The small vulpine pilot cast a sheepish glance over toward the vehicle that still emitted intermittent plumes of smoke from different places. "I guess. The flight controls seem to still be intact."

"Then we get on board, and we get to Washington as quick as possible."

Tails' jaw dropped momentarily before issuing his warning that pushing the partially disabled aircraft too hard could cause it to break apart.

"It flies apart, then!" boomed Sonic, causing his friend to retreat a few steps. "The longer we sit here and do nothing, the closer this world comes to falling under Craddock's and Eggman's control! Now let's move it!"

What pessimism about the ability of the Grand Beetle that had gripped the small fox vanished as he watched both Sonic and Knuckles, who had approved the action with a simple smirk, disappear inside. He knew he was an ace pilot, and that even most damaged vehicle couldn't prevent him from being able to operate it. Besides, Sonic was counting on him. He wasn't about to let him down.

"Why are you against us?" one of the bound soldiers shouted toward Tails before he could board the aircraft.

Tails turned and faced him.

"This world is corrupt with greed and power that destroys people all over. This is the first time we can actually say that world peace is inevitable, and yet you march on Washington with intent to make that nothing more that just some stupid wish. Why? Why would you do that? We trusted you, Tails! We trusted you!"

Tails heeded the words that suddenly made his heart heavy with confusion as to who was right, but said nothing. He trusted Sonic with everything, including his life. But upon hearing those words, he felt it give just a little.

_No,_ he told himself as he shook his mind free of such ridiculous notions that the Onyx was meant for world peace,_ Sonic is my friend, and I know that he knows the right thing to do._

Before disappearing into the jet, he looked once more upon the lone conscious soldier that still eyed him, pleading.

_But what would this world be like if all the evil leaders were gone? Isn't that what a free world is supposed to be like?_

He pulled the door shut and administered the locking mechanism, unable to focus now that he had a clouded conscious.


	21. Chapter 21

Sorry for the lengthy delay once again. 'Tis been a very busy month or two at work, so getting time to work on this has been marginal at best. Don't let the short chapter fool you, I do promise that things will pick up in the very near future. ;)  


* * *

Sonic and all other various Sonic The Hedgehog characters are Copyright SEGA, Sonic Team, TMS Entertainment, and all other associations affiliated with the Sonic X anime/manga. All other characters belong to their rightful owner (me) and have no similarities with above-said characters whatsoever. Names used for other characters are random. Any people bearing the real name, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

21

Chris, sitting in the co-pilot's chair, carefully eyed the speed gauge as it slowly lulled over the 200 mile per hour mark, then slowly over 250, then approached 300, its chorus of intermittent pangs and pings sending its sign that the maximum speed was rapidly being approached. He could hear the engines heaving as the needle approached the 300 mile per hour mark, but no other signals lit up indicating that there was a problem at the moment. The needle surpassed 300 and the plane shuddered momentarily before slowly silencing itself.

Relieved, he rested against the back of the seat. He smiled and looked over toward Tails to let him know that he was being paranoid over nothing; that the plane would certainly hold together.

"Guess the U.S.A. can still make a good warplane when they want to, eh, Tails?" Chris laughed as he placed his arms behind his head and reclined.

But upon hearing nothing in return--not even a snicker of even slight amusement--Chris glanced over and noticed his friend was staring down at the floor, blank, lost in his thoughts.

"Tails?"

Again, the small fox sat still, his gaze locked upon nothing. Chris started to worry.

"Hey, Tails."

Finally, he looked over with the same expressionless face as he had given the floor. He almost seemed ill.

"Are you okay?"

"Just thinking about stuff. That guard; he said that we were going to destroy the one chance this world had at world peace. He said that we were going against them if we try and stop Amy."

Chris frowned a little, unsure of what his friend was getting at.

"Chris, I'm confused. A world free of evil is everyone's wishes, even ours. But what I don't understand is why people kill in this world. Can peace not be achieved any other way?"

The question was certainly complex, and Chris' eyes darted to and fro as he stared at the floor, unable to find any answers that might best explain things in a more positive tone.

"Tails," Chris said glumly, "I really don't know how to answer that question other than to tell you that people in this world uphold their beliefs, even if means fighting to the death to preserve their faith. It's been like that for a long, long time, and nothing is about to change soon. It's just a fact of life that goes from one generation to the next."

Appalled, Tails' jaw dropped open.

"It doesn't make it right; I know that. But there are some viciously evil people out there that want nothing more than us dead and them holding the sword of power, and as long as they remain alive, there will be countless people living in fear and at risk."

"So, you're okay with killing?" Tails asked, his expression unchanged.

"No, I'm not!" Chris fired back, "I wish there were other ways to get rid of these people, but…I…"

He retreated, slumping to the back of the seat, looking away as if he realized that his definition was a little more one-sided than he had realized. "I don't know. It's so hard to know what's right and what's wrong anymore. You do what you think is right, but it ends up being all wrong from the start. The thing is, Tails, is that this sort of action has been going on for a long time. We've tried to use words to persuade the evil into dropping their intentions, but no one listens anymore, and we watch the innocent fall one by one as the transfer of power progresses. We look for every alternative method we can think of, but in the end, assassination almost always ends up as the verdict. That way, without a leader, the group loses its confidence and eventually disbands for fear of suffering the same fate. It's morbid, but killing one instead of thousands is far better, as our past wars would indicate."

Chris sighed, and then looked back over toward Tails, who was now pinching his chin in deep thought.

"I see what you're saying now," he said, continuing to rub his fingers along his chin covered in white. "You're right, it's a two-sided dilemma. On one side, you try and try to prevent anyone from coming to harm, and the other, sacrificing one for the sake of protecting thousands of others. Shadow did this, but it was on his own accord and no one else's. Still, I see what you mean."

He looked sternly toward his friend. "Craddock was actually onto something wasn't he, Chris."

Reluctantly, Chris nodded.

"But Topaz said that the plug on the project had been pulled because of the human subjects being used in its early stages."

"Tails, you should know by now that the government is never going to completely pull the plug on something they think has potential to it, no matter who makes the decision. Even we are able to stop Amy and somehow stop the chip inside her head, do you honestly think they'll stop with their progress?"

Tails smirked as if to show that he was starting to get a little tired of all the pessimism he had almost found himself wallowing in. "So what do we do, Chris? Do we just give up because we _think_ things are going to continue to progress, or do we do what it takes to stop that progression from even happening? I don't know about you, but I vote for the second option, as would Sonic."

Chris kept his eyes glued to the floor. _Tails is right. It's high time I stopped being this whiny little jackass. I got them all into this mess, so it's up to me to do something to get them out of it._

A morbid thought made him shiver.

_Even if it means losing my life, so be it. I want to show them I can at least do something right._

"So what do you plan on doing?" Chris finally asked.

A small smile crept across Tails' mouth. "After we get Amy back, we figure out a way to destroy everything associated with this project. No one can continue on with it, so everything's gotta be burned."

"Even the transporter," Chris added stiffly.

Tails jerked his head back in a fit of confused shock. "Well, we don't have to go that far—"

"Yes we do, Tails. If it still exists, they'll figure out a way to get it, and then this whole process starts over again. I'm not going to let that happen."

"Are you sure about that, Chris? There's a chance we'll never be able to come back again."

Chris looked away again, determined. "I know, but to make sure nothing like this can ever happen again, I have to destroy it. I can't take any more chances just because of my greed."

Tails could see a thin layer of water build up on the young man's eyes, obvious of how difficult it was for him to come to such a decision. He choked back his own emotion, knowing that it truly was the right decision, even if every bit of it seemed incredibly unfair.

With just a nod, Tails agreed, and pushed the throttle forward so that they could descend upon Washington faster.


	22. Chapter 22

Sonic and all other various Sonic The Hedgehog characters are Copyright SEGA, Sonic Team, TMS Entertainment, and all other associations affiliated with the Sonic X anime/manga. All other characters belong to their rightful owner (me) and have no similarities with above-said characters whatsoever. Names used for other characters are random. Any people bearing the real name, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

22

"Tails?" the radio scratched, alarming the vulpine pilot momentarily as he had been watching the radar, as well as the GPS built into the main control panel since the jet itself had leveled off, its intimidating shudders and other assorted noises that indicated inevitable and significant trouble subsiding much to the young fox's joy.

They were nearly upon Washington D.C., which meant that the FBI and CIA with lookout posts in every direction would eventually lock on to their position and take any and all necessary action once they'd realize just who was inside, courtesy of Senator Joseph Conrad's whistle-blow and Louis Craddock's attempt to frame them, which had worked thus far.

The voice was undeniably female.

"Topaz?" Tails questioned, startled by the sudden call.

"Yeah, it's me."

"But won't you be fired if you're caught talking to us?"

"Too late for that now, but because everyone's wrapped up with this hoopla concerning the president and the new leader of Ireland at the press conference today, I do have a little time left to at least try and help you guys out. From what I know, Conrad hasn't said anything to the others of my impending termination, so I still have access to places others don't because of my seniority while at GUN, which is weird because anyone on the brink of termination has all access to anywhere stripped, and the bypass codes scrambled and reassigned. Anyway, what's your distance from Washington now?"

"About a hundred miles," Tails replied after studying the GPS.

"Okay, now listen to me very carefully. I had gotten word of the orders to use any action felt necessary to stop you from entering the airspace surrounding the White House, so as soon as one of the lookouts get a visual on you, they'll be coming."

Sonic, having heard the conversation after he had stepped into the cockpit, grabbed the CB from Tails' hand. "We're not afraid of them, Topaz. We can handle them."

"Sonic, you can't with these guys. It's not that I don't think you can handle them, but if you create a scene that will endanger the president, everything will be shut down and trying to even get remotely close to anything will be even more incredibly difficult. This time, Sonic, you have to go in using your head instead of your actions."

Insulted, Sonic fired back at Topaz, claiming that there was simply not enough time to plan out anything anymore since the meeting was to take place that day and that the Onyx could be anywhere, perhaps right under their noses, and never know about it until it was too late.

"I know what you're saying, Sonic," Topaz explained, "But if you barge in through the lookout posts, you're going to create absolute havoc because everyone will be running everywhere, the president and all those affiliated with the meeting will be escorted out under heavy security, and you will become the nation's number one enemy, despite everything that had taken place last time, and the next meeting place will be strictly confidential and subject to video conferencing only for the press. If that happens, Craddock and Eggman will surely find a way to either rope her back in, or terminate her and go back to the drawing board."

_Terminate her?!_ Sonic gasped to himself, his mouth dropping open. _I will __**not**__ let that happen!_

He wanted to bust out of the jet and just level anything and everything related to the whole incident, but heeded Topaz's words with brute reluctance. "I'm listening."

"Tails will need to turn northwest and land at Dulles airport. I'll be waiting there with a group to take you into custody, so to speak. From there, I can get you close enough to where you can use chaos control to get yourself inside."

"There's just one little problem with that plan, Topaz. I need the chaos emeralds in order to do that, and they're in the X-Tornado, in which Amy…I mean…the Onyx is now flying."

"Not anymore."

Tails, Chris, and Sonic looked at each other, perplexed, but also worried as to what might have happened.

"What do you mean by that?" snapped Sonic.

"I had been given a report by one of our recon groups that a strange aircraft had been discovered about three hundred miles from here. Their conclusion was that it had been ditched and abandoned, as there was no one around, but inside a compartment within the hull were seven emeralds of different colors. I immediately instructed them to keep them separated."

"Smart move," Tails murmured as he turned the steering mechanism away from their intended destination.

"The jet is at Dulles in a hangar closely guarded by our agents with the emeralds still inside. The jet itself is pretty much useless, as a lot of fuselage was torn away during the ditching process. How she was able to survive that is a mystery to me."

_Eggman wasn't out trying to find the emeralds?_ Sonic wondered, thoroughly confused. For years, the man clad in red and black had tried to end Sonic's life to get his hands on the emeralds and create his empire named after himself. And yet, with the one golden opportunity to get them all in one fell swoop, he was nowhere to be found.

"Well, in her current state, there's not much that can stop her physically," Sonic added, still bothered by the fact that the grandson bearing his identical last name would never pass up a chance unless he were distracted by something else that was considerably more enticing. "We have an idea of how to stop her, though."

***

The group awaiting Sonic as he and then others exited the jet wasn't nearly as big as he had hoped: four, including Topaz.

"This is it?" Knuckles asked as he was led to a nearby vehicle covered in black and adorned with several FBI acronyms. "Why so few?"

With an emphatic sigh, Topaz confessed that the small group were the only ones that knew something was awry with Senator Conrad and his sudden interest in beefing up security around the president and a seemingly harmless press conference within the grounds of the White House, as well as an odd hostility toward the nation's hero just a few years back. They knew the risks of their coup, but were willing to take those risks based on what the hedgehog had told them.

Once inside the vehicle, Tails asked of the X-Tornado's location.

"We're going there now," the driver said. "It was put into a specialized hangar because of its makeup and, obviously, the emeralds."

Sonic peeked out of the windshield at the large door to the hangar, FBI agents swarming about like ants guarding its colony. The sight of them all looking upon the vehicle made Sonic uneasy, as well as the driver, his face contorting to one of slight discomfort; he noticed one staring directly at him.

"Agent Rickson?" he said with little confidence. "Isn't he supposed to be heading the main security group at the press conference? What's he doing here?"

Topaz leaned in and peered out the windshield at the agent approaching them, his hand held aloft, his other hand tightly gripped around the butt of his rifle slung over his shoulder.

The driver, agent Miller by way of the embroidered patch on his left breast, adjusted his fingers around the steering wheel, and shifted in the seat, sinking down a little as more and more agents turned their attention to them.

"So who is this Rickson fellow?" Sonic asked, taking an interest in the intensifying situation.

Topaz carefully unbuttoned her holster as she eyed the agent. "One of the senior agents on staff. He's head of security in the sniper division. If the president is going to be out in the public, he'll be close by in case there's something or someone suspicious. Why he's here, I don't know, either. But I don't like it."

Rickson suddenly stopped and leaned forward, as if getting a closer look before he let loose a small smile, having apparently seen what he had been looking for.

"Shit, it was a trap!" Topaz gasped as she watched him hoist his rifle and take aim at the vehicle. "Miller, evasive action!"

"Right!" he yelled as he jerked the wheel violently once the bullets began flying.

Sonic and the other unsuspecting victims of the unannounced aversion tactic tumbled to one side of the SUV as the wheels screeched. A line of bullets rippled through the side, creating a zigzagging pattern that somehow avoided full penetration to the inside.

"Jennings, Carlson!" Topaz ordered, ripping her pistol free of its sheath. "Load up and return fire! Miller, try to get us to the hangar!"

"What the hell is going on?!" Knuckles demanded with a ferociously audible growl, barely able to maintain his balance from the shifting vehicle. "I thought you were still part of this group!"

After busting out a side window and firing, dropping two agents rushing toward them, Topaz ducked to reload just as a bullet ricocheted off of the body, the other two agents ducking and firing in a hauntingly choreographed sequence. "Conrad's outed us. He probably knew I'd be talking with you all, so he had my channel on my communicator traced, the damned old bastard."

"Then he knows about the emeralds!" Tails cried out, laying low to avoid being cut down by the intermittent bullets that whizzed by. "But what would he want with them? Unless--"

A crazy revelation sparked between he and Sonic as they looked at each other.

"That senator is in on it, too," Sonic concluded.

"Senator Conrad?" Topaz said, cursing afterword as she fumbled with the bullets in trying to reload her gun. "The Advisor to the Joint Chiefs of Staff?"

"Think about it, Topaz," Sonic continued, falling over into Knuckles and Tails as the vehicle made another sharp turn in its advance on the hangar. "Why would he want to suddenly guard the X-Tornado with the chaos emeralds still inside unless he knew we'd be looking for them?"

"He's afraid we'd rat him out," Tails added with a smile despite the desperate situation they were in. "Which we would've. He, along with Craddock and Eggman want to keep the Onyx program alive and well, even at the expense of your president."

Topaz froze for a moment. "You mean they're not going to stop her?!"

"They probably will since they don't want their program to go up in flames," Sonic added, ducking as a stray bullet struck the side of the SUV. "They just wanted to do without anyone knowing. So, your boys out there probably have no idea of what's going on, other than me becoming an apparent threat to the president."

"Incoming!" agent Miller suddenly yelled.

Topaz peeked over the riddled metal to see one of the attacking agents perch a missile launcher atop his shoulder, firing it seconds later.

"Dodge right!" Topaz screamed, pointing.

"Shit!" Miller yelled just as the missile struck the ground just to the left of the SUV, viciously exploding and sending the truck careening to its side where it slid a few hundred feet before coming to rest a short distance away from the hangar.

Sonic and the others rustled around in the bent up metal as Topaz, having come to the quickest began asking if everyone was okay.

Miller did not answer.

"Hey," Knuckles asked, poking the agent on the shoulder, "You okay?"

The agent's head lazily fell limp top one side, exposing the large shard of glass from the door window lodged into his face and neck, causing the echidna to gasp in shock.

Voices from the outside alerted everyone that the others were approaching. Silences, save the occasional pang of metal falling to the ground, filtered through the crashed vehicle as they listened to the voices congregate to the back doors.

Sonic looked to Knuckles and nodded, prompting him to burst through the back and send the doors into the unsuspecting agents.

Topaz seemed to get the gist of what they silently planned. "We'll cover you."

The echidna rubbed his fists together, and smiled evilly. "Time to eat."

Just as he had in Area 53, he drew back and unleashed a furious punch onto the doors, knocking them free and into the FBI agents that had only a moment to react.

Obviously, they were too late, and were consequently knocked silly from the force of the vehicle's doors. Topaz, Jennings, and Carlson scrambled out and hoisted their rifles at the fallen agents as Knuckles, Tails, and Sonic sprinted toward the hangar door.

As the agents were being cuffed with ties, Topaz immediately noticed that one was missing: Rickson.

Both Carlson and Jennings suddenly lurched forward as bullets ripped through their necks, courtesy of Rickson, who had taken refuge at the front of the wrecked SUV.

Topaz spun around, but immediately came face to face with the sharpshooter, his rifle aimed at her head. "Lower the weapon, Topaz, or share the same fate. Your call."

She glanced over to the hangar, and then silently placed her rifle on the ground.

Rickson smiled as he affixed a security tie to Topaz's wrists. "I'm surprised at you, Topaz. I figured you were smarter than to assume that I would fall for the same trick as my counterparts did. I also figured you to be a lot smarter than to piss against the wind and get yourself canned for fucking with people you shouldn't be fucking with. Namely Conrad."

"Listen to me, Rickson," Topaz said, her hands bound and now in front of her. "Conrad's a part of this ordeal. The president's in grave danger."

The feeble attempt to distract him was almost insulting to a man of his intelligence.

"You really expect me to believe _that_?" the burly agent laughed mockingly. "You friends screwed us over, Topaz. We had everything we needed in order to eliminate those who oppress and those who threaten us, and they botched the whole thing up."

"Rickson, please," Topaz begged, "If you just listen to—"

"How about you just shut up and listen to _me_? For the first time, we can finally not worry about some crazy leader getting the balls to come drop a few hundred bombs on us just because he doesn't like us, or maybe drop a nuke on their home country because he doesn't like the way it's being run. Every day, we have to look over our shoulder to see who might be planning our demise, and it's getting pretty fucking old because that list of people who hate us grows every damn day. Those who do want to live in peace now fear for their lives, fearing until they eventually crack and submit. Now we have something that can eliminate that fear once and for all, and you want to support those freaks who want to wreck it because they think we stole their fucking emeralds? Whose side are you on, anyway?"

He looked over to the hangar with a hateful glare.

"You know, Topaz, I don't know what to know. I think I know what your answer is."

Rickson quickly reached behind him and pulled a roll of tape, cutting off a piece and affixing it over his one-time companion's mouth.

"I advise you to stay where you are if you value your life. You so much as move, I will find you, and I will kill you."

The words filled Topaz with such a cold sense of fear, she knew better than to ever question their integrity. She watched him take off toward the hangar, and slowly sunk to the ground in a heap, feeling helpless to do anything. She looked over to one of her fallen teammates. His eyes stared back, but blank and lifeless as his blood seeped out in and ever-growing circle of crimson.

Rickson had all but confirmed that Conrad had built up a coup of his own that allowed Craddock to continue his work with Eggman, all behind the president's back; behind her back; behind the nation's back. The report from the first base that had been false, yet stamped with the seal of approval from the Department of Defense that everything on it was true.

She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat, knowing that anarchy had finally come, and from the source no one would ever dream of it coming from.

And as she watched Rickson maneuver his way inside the hangar, she prayed harder than she had ever prayed before.

But upon reopening her eyes, she swore she saw a figure flying down toward the hangar -- a very familiar figure.

***

Tails looked over his prized creation turned into scrap metal, with hardly anything resembling the original form, and sighed emphatically. The one area that still held its framework, though marginally, was the cockpit area and the holding area where the emeralds were stored.

"Well, might as well as see if they were telling us the truth," Sonic said. "Open the holding area."

Grabbing a screwdriver from a nearby work area, the small fox clambered into what was left of the cockpit area and stabbed the utensil into a crease that housed the opening to the storage area. With a crack and a snap, Tails slowly pulled the storage drawer out, looking upon the seven emeralds shining as brightly as ever, just as they had been reported.

"I'm surprised nothing happened when it crashed," Tails added as he tossed two to Knuckles, and three to Sonic.

"I know," Sonic replied as he rubbed his thumb over the glowing gemstone.

"Hey, there's no time to sit here and wonder 'what if'," Knuckles pointed out. "We've got to get the White House!"

"You two go on ahead," Tails said as he eyed the electrical parts dangling in a sea of wiring. "I've got a little work to do to create that electromagnetic tool for Amy. I'll catch up with you soon if you can just somehow stall things."

Both the echidna and the hedgehog nodded, but before they could take off, an intimidating click echoed from behind Tails.

"Wouldn't do that if I were you, Sonic, my friend," Rickson said, having emerged from the shadows of the dimly lit hangar, the barrel of his rifle planted firmly behind the small fox's head. "Put the emeralds down."

A sly smile crept across Sonic's face. "Think you're faster than me?"

"Oh, you and your friend will probably get me, but not until after I make your other friend's head here nothing but a bloody stump. You see, you're all the way over there, and all I have to do is squeeze."

"He's bullshitting us, Sonic," Knuckles growled, advancing a few steps.

Tails yelped a little when he felt the barrel press harder into his head. "N-no, Knuckles. He's not kidding."

"Hm. You are as smart as they say," the FBI agent said with a stern smile, "Tell them to back off and put the emeralds down."

For a short moment, Tails eyed his two friends. He could feel their frustration and helplessness. He knew action had to be taken, drastic or not. A tear welled up in one his eyes as he frowned in determination for what he was about to do.

"Tails?" Sonic whispered, somehow knowing what his two-tailed friend was planning. "Tails, don't."

"It's up to you two, now," the small fox said with difficulty. "Take the emeralds and get out of here. Get to the White House and stop this."

"Why you—" Rickson growled, his trigger finger beginning to pull back. But before he could move it any more, a slashing move from his right knocked him away from Tails, his gun spiraling away and harmlessly upon the concrete floor.

"You okay?" said a familiar figure hidden somewhat by the shadows of the dimly lit hangar.

Tails looked up, disoriented slightly from the sudden intervention and chaos, and immediately knew who had saved him.

"You!" he cried out as he looked up Rouge, who was staring at the man she had floored with a well-rounded kick. "But—how--?"

"Oh, I wasn't as bad off as I let on. To make a long story short, I healed up faster than they expected, and upon seeing a news story on the press release about some press conference with the president, talked my way into having that FBI agent guarding my room get me to Washington. Imagine my surprise when I see a fireball erupt beside a speeding truck, a bunch of uniformed men running toward it, and the man's radio inside the jet going nuts with some guy talking about how Sonic was trying to get to the hangar where the X-Tornado was."

She laughed as she gingerly floated down and plucked the rifle from the floor, much to Rickson's dismay as he came to, holding his jaw that looked broken in several places.

"You boys need a little work in keeping a secret, you know. I might not have made if Mr. Big Mouth over there wouldn't have spilled the beans."

"But, we saw you in the hospital, Rouge!" Sonic exclaimed, "You were hooked up to all these tubes and you looked like a mummy with all those bandages! You were still there when we left!"

"True, but thanks to Knuxy over there, my wounds somehow healed faster than normal, and I had had enough of the skimpy paper clothes they make you wear. It still hurts like hell, but it's nothing I can't handle. You've got some pretty powerful stuff flowing in that body of yours, Knux; in more ways than one."

She winked and laughed as the echidna's face turned a deep shade of red. Turning to hide his embarrassment, he cursed her for calling him 'Knuxy' again.

"Well, we're glad you're back, Rouge," Sonic jumped in sternly, "But we can't chat now. Knuckles and I need to get to that press conference before it begins to try and stop Amy. You bring Tails once he's done with his contraption. We'll see you inside."

With a nod, Rouge and Tails watched as Sonic and Knuckles be swallowed by the glowing mass of white after the hedgehog had executed chaos control.


	23. Chapter 23

Well, things are finally beginning to speed up now! Hope you enjoy it.

* * *

Sonic and all other various Sonic The Hedgehog characters are Copyright SEGA, Sonic Team, TMS Entertainment, and all other associations affiliated with the Sonic X anime/manga. All other characters belong to their rightful owner (me) and have no similarities with above-said characters whatsoever. Names used for other characters are random. Any people bearing the real name, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

23

"So, Sonic, what's the plan?" Knuckles asked as he peered around a corner, down a long hallway filled with portraits of past presidents.

They had appeared inside an interior room within the West Wing of the White House; an office of one of the members of the president's staff. It was coincidence that they had appeared in the section completely emptied because of the press conference taking place on the East Wing.

Sonic looked about the room, and spotted an overhead photo of the building in its entirety. He sighed at sheer size of it.

"We're going to have to split up in order to cover everything," he said, planting his fists against his hips. "She could be anywhere."

"Hiding?" Knuckles responded in an almost disbelieving tone. "As powerful as she is, wouldn't she just plow through everyone to get to the president?"

"You'd think, but the signals from that chip in her head might instruct her to not act hastily and execute the job as cleanly as possible; just the way an assassin would."

"Well, however she does it. We have to stop her; and I mean _stop_ her this time, Sonic?" the echidna said, poking Sonic's shoulder.

"What's that supposed to mean?" the hedgehog asked, partially perturbed.

"It means you did little to defend yourself against her. She manhandled all of us like we were ragdolls. Sonic, we have to stop her, even if it means having to use extreme measures."

The mere mention of the word _extreme_ sent shivers up Sonic's spine. But the echidna had a point; she was just far too powerful to use any other method for the sake of not hurting her.

He sighed, and nodded. "Point taken."

He pointed to what looked like a large stage on the photo. "This looks like where the whole conference is taking place, so my guess is she'll be hiding somewhere around here. You go to the room right by the stage and I'll make my way to podium area. I'll be eyeing things from the surrounding trees."

***

The echidna slowly scanned the reception room that adjoined the staging area, looking for anything that looked out-of-place or even the slightest bit suspicious. He tried to be quiet, but the occasional creak from the centuries old structure seemed resonate around the room in a seemingly echoing boom. Anyone would've known he was snooping about, and it frustrated him to no end.

As he eyed a set of curtains with the shades drawn, his thoughts meandered back to the whole reason he was standing inside the room of the nation's leader, looking for the very person trying to kill that leader.

_Damn it, Rouge,_ he cursed silently as he poked the shade, hoping Amy wasn't behind it, _you just couldn't keep your grubby hands off of those emeralds, could you._

A sudden smile crept across his face.

_But you know what, had it not been for your greed, Eggman and that bastard, Craddock, would've gotten them all, and then who knows what would've happened. I can't believe I'm saying this, but it's a good thing you were able to stash away a couple of them inside one of your daughter's toys._

He froze in place for a moment; not because of a noise, but of hearing himself say 'daughter;' Rouge's daughter. His daughter.

_My daughter…_

He could see the little whirlwind of dark pink looking upon him through her bangs of white with red tips as any child would her father: proud and filled with unbridled respect and love. Though she was of two different worlds, it mattered little to Knuckles as he marveled at the life he helped create.

_My…daughter…_

More than ever, he wanted to get back to see her; to maybe patch things up so that she wouldn't have to go on through life not knowing who her father was. The Master Emerald would just have to wait its turn.

But as he heard a muffled conversation amongst heavy footsteps approaching a nearby door, he knew that this had to come first, or there was no getting home in the first place. He looked quickly toward a closet that conveniently resided right beside the door the voices were headed for.

Sighing, he dashed over and opened the closet door just as the group entered. As he crammed himself in a dark corner, he cursed himself for leaving it partially open in his haste.

A man clad in black eyed it, but nonchalantly closed it without so much as taking a peek inside as to what might've opened it in the first place.

Thankfully, there was a sliver of light that bled into the darkness from an area that resembled wooden shades, just enough for the echidna to peek out and see who had come into the room.

The man who had shut the door escorted another man clad in a neatly pressed gray suit that looked as perfect as his hairdo. Knuckles assumed automatically that that had to be the president.

"Mr. President," the man said, confirming the echidna's assumption, "We're due to go on just a few more minutes. Your squad leaders for security today are Garrison, Renshaw, and I believe you already know Kelson."

"Ah, yes, Kelson," President Beamon said, shaking the young man's hand. "Defense loaning you out today?"

Knuckles nearly burst through the door once he saw Kelson's face.

_That's the driver of the car that led us to Eggman's hideout! Damn it, they knew she'd make a beeline straight to here, so he's looking for her, too!_

"Just wanted to chance to wear the cool shades, sir," he said with a wry smile that reeked of corruption.

With a hearty laugh, the president agreed and reminded him that it was always good to have someone like him on his side.

_Chris was right, _Knuckles concluded silently, keeping his stare locked on the man bespectacled in sunglasses. _They never told the president that they kept the program going even after he wanted it shut down, which explains why they duped Topaz into believing Eggman and Craddock blew up in the explosion._

He watched him carefully as he led the group over to a door that led to the staging area, trying hard to figure out what he was going to do if he were to find Amy since he wasn't nearly as strong as Knuckles.

_Someone must've turned in a fake report to keep her mouth shut, knowing that she'd come straight to us if anything involved Eggman; but who? It couldn't have been Craddock since he was involved with everything._

And then the revelation that had belied the echidna finally found its mark.

_Conrad! No wonder he tried to keep us away from here! He's behind this whole thing, too!_

But before he decided that enough was enough, and that immediate action on his part had now become necessary, he noticed that Kelson remained in the room after everyone had left, eyeing his surroundings, and pulling a small remote from inside his suit.

_What's he up to?_

In mere seconds, the air around Kelson seemed to bubble before three intense orbs of light flashed to life and dissipated just as quickly, revealing three robotic figures equipped with what looked like laser sensors for one of their eyes.

_What in the devil are those things?_

"You have your orders," Kelson instructed methodically, "Find and terminate. Report back to base when you've completed the mission."

_Terminate!_

As soon as Kelson finished, he disappeared into the staging area while the robots disappeared into another room, with Knuckles watching and waiting.

"Payback time," he growled before tearing through the door in pursuit of the robots. "All right, boys, take me to her."

Making sure to be out of their sight, the echidna followed, but at a safe distance.

_Looks like ol' Conrad and company wanted to cover their butts in case this sort of thing happened. When in doubt, destroy the evidence, I guess. Well, not on my watch._

In a hauntingly choreographed sequence, the robots suddenly stopped and turned their automated attentions toward another closet, lifting their arms and revealing lasers mounted atop their wrists. They had found her.

"I don't think so!" Knuckles yelled as he leapt toward the unsuspecting bipedal metal zombies.

With a furious swing of his spiked fist, the echidna made short work of one of the robots as the others suddenly disappeared; an obvious built-in retreat mechanism using chaos energy.

Tossing aside one of the arms of the destroyed robot, Knuckles snorted his disapproval at the others' retreat and casually opened the closet door, his fist ready just in case Amy was ready to attack.

Instead, however, sat a CIA agent bound with rope and gagged with what looked like a metallic headband adorned with a single microchip on its front. The man was alive, but unconscious.

Knuckles carefully untied the agent and removed the gag; laying him down onto an adjacent bench before snorting at the clever contraption Amy had built from probably the spare mechanical parts within the X-Tornado's storage compartment to dupe Eggman's robotic flunkies.

_Wow, she's smarter than we think,_ the echidna mused while crushing the microchip with his hand. _She somehow knew about these mecha-bozos latching on to her signal._

He looked at the CIA agent, and then his attention quickly reverted back toward the staging room.

_Shit! That means she's somewhere in the staging area!_

***

"What do you mean they got away, Rickson?" Craddock whispered loudly into his phone. "Okay, okay, no more bullshit. Cordon off the area and let the airport police staff know that there was an attempted hijacking or something and put Topaz as the blame. Once that shit clears, you take her to the home base where _I'll_ deal with her later."

A pause lazily strolled by, transforming Craddock's face from angered to shock.

"Topaz is gone also? Damn it all to hell. Get that shit cleared up there, and then you go after her. Make sure she doesn't make it her, or your ass is mine, clear? Don't call back."

Cursing under his breath, Craddock angrily hung up the phone and flipped it back into the pocket of his trench coat, his hat tipped low and over his sunglasses to avoid anyone noticing him as he watched the president and his entourage walk out onto the stage amongst a chorus of cheers.

_Worldwide peace, _he mused angrily as the two leaders shook hands and waved to the crowd. _Hmph. If I hadn't continued on with the Onyx project for my own little plan, I'd be enjoying the irony of this if everything weren't about to blow up in my face…_

A nonchalant tap on his shoulders alerted him.

_Fuck._

"Craddock, you'd better give me one hell of a good reason as to why you're here" Senator Conrad spat furiously, his face red with anger. "You told me yourself that you wouldn't be here!"

Craddock retreated a little. "Well, it's a special occasion and all. World peace. Rah, rah, rah, world peace and all that."

"Don't bullshit me, Louis. Don't you dare bullshit me. I got your flunky on the lead squad so he could keep and eye out for you-know-who."

Craddock's phone began to ring again.

"Well?" the senator chirped sarcastically, "Are you going to answer it? It could be important. _Very_ important if you catch my drift."

With a sneer, Craddock plucked the phone out, eyed the ID, and jammed it to his ear. "What is it, Kelson?"

"I think there's a problem here, sir," Kelson's voice said over the phone. "I had a signal earlier, and now it's gone. Now, there's another one, and it's not in a good spot. I'm looking for its source now."

The ex-militant's eye began to twitch with frustration.

"You'd better find it, and quick, God damn it!"

"Yes, sir."

***

Sonic, having taken refuge to some nearby trees, overlooked the crowded plaza that led up to the large stage adorned with the patriotic red, whites, and blues of the United States, as well as the president, the leader of Ireland, and a slew of men clad in sunglasses looking every which way for anything suspicious.

He'd searched high and low for Amy, but had found not even an inkling of a clue to her whereabouts. Time was running out.

_She wasn't in the staging area, nor have I found her out here. Where in the devil is she? And where's Knuckles?_

The president stepped up to the podium, waving as if he were leading a parade, and after the applause and cheers had finally died down, began speaking of how the two nations will work together to achieve peace to other nations, eventually, and hopefully, leading to a global unification of peace so that oppression will never again rear its ugly head.

Sonic kept eyeing his surroundings, squinting as the sun managed to free itself from behind a passing cloud, its intense light cascading over the crowd and over the stage, washing over the side of the White House and revealing a strange glare from atop the roof.

Sonic's attention immediately averted to it.

_What in the world was that?_

He leaned out and as the glare diminished thanks to another passing cloud, he noticed a figure kneeling, a sword of red and yellow gingerly held by at its side.

_She's on the roof! Time to make a distraction!_

Yanking an acorn from a small limb, the hedgehog eyed the president, drew back his arm, and let it fly as if he were a Major League Baseball pitcher.

***

With one last wave, the president stepped up to the microphone and prepared his speech he and his advisors had worked so diligently on for so long in preparation for such a glorious event.

But before one word came out, he felt the sting of a well-thrown acorn strike him in the back of the head, sending him into the podium with a yelp of pain induced mainly by surprise.

Almost immediately, Kelson erupted from the back and tackled the president to the floor, his pistol drawn, as the other members of the CIA shrouded around him and the Irish leader, all pistols drawn.

The other agents stationed in other parts of the stage began trying to calm the crowd that had also crumbled into a panicked state of pandemonium; some trying to find their free of the chaos, but held back by both the CIA and a military group called in for such emergencies.

"Kelson, get off of me this instant!" Beamon roared, shoving at the black-clad agent. "It was a damned acorn, for crying out loud! An acorn! That's all it was! Now stop this nonsense at once?!"

_Acorn?_ Kelson echoed to himself. _That bastard Sonic is here!_

"Obviously," Kelson said, eyeing his surroundings, especially the trees, "There's some anti-government bastard causing all this. I'll get on it. Renshaw, you head to the front corridor in case he tries to escape. Mr. Martison, can you try and calm everyone down and stall them while I get the area on quiet alert?

The CIA head nodded, adjusted his tie, and calmly helped the president to his feet while Kelson and Renshaw headed off in their respective directions to pursue the presumed anarchist.

"Everyone," Martison said into the microphone, "Everyone, let's calm down. It was a false alarm. No one is hurt, and no one is in danger unless you're allergic to acorns."

A quiet wave of nervous laughter rippled amongst the crowd, except for two that hovered in the back, hidden by the shadows of the refreshment canopy they stood under.

"The Onyx _is_ here, isn't she?" Conrad spat, grabbing Craddock by his collar.

As the president stood up and took over behind the microphone, calming the crowd somewhat with a quirky one-liner about how someone was a little nuts over the peace agreement, Craddock tried to explain that things were under control.

"Sure looks like it," the senator said, reaching into his suit and pulling out a handheld taser. "But it's always best to be prepared when the incompetent can't handle a simple task."

Craddock's face melted into panic when he noticed the taser's unique build.

"Jesus Christ, Conrad!" Craddock bellowed, fruitlessly trying to wrestle the electronic contraption from his arms. "That thing's made to take down criminals with large body masses! That could take down a rhinoceros!"

Conrad raced toward the entrance of the White House with Craddock following closely behind.

"Right now, I could give a shit less!" the senator said, ripping open one of the main doors.

"But you'll kill her with that much electricity!"

Conrad suddenly turned and shoved the taser dangerously close to Craddock's face, close enough to where the former general winced from the sparking and crackling of the taser's intimidating amount of voltage.

"Craddock, it's over! This thing is way too unstable! I should've pulled the plug on this long ago, but I didn't because I listened to your incessant bullshit. I'd as soon throw your ass in prison for you screwing me over, but I'm in it too deep now, too!"

***

Atop the roof, the Onyx's eyes darted back and forth as the chaos below began to calm. Her target had become lost within the sea of dark suits and tasteless neckties, but it wouldn't take long before she would find him again, and complete her mission.

But as soon as her eyes locked back onto her target, a spinning blue ball named Sonic, who had appeared from a nearby tree, toppled her. Almost as soon as she had hit the roof, though, she sprang back up and sliced the air with her sword, just narrowly missing the dodging hedgehog by mere inches.

Slice after slice from the sword swished by Sonic as he backpedaled from her advance.

_Damn it, where's Tails at? _He cursed to himself as he ducked another vicious swing.

The Onyx suddenly stepped back and opened her palm, confusing Sonic for a split second, which was long enough for the dark purple energy emanating from the rings on her wrist to follow a path toward the hedgehog, and enveloping him in a cocoon of purple wisps.

"Amy, don't!" Sonic yelled, frozen inside the hauntingly beautiful tempest, unable to move a muscle as the assassin advanced.

He watched as she drew her sword high in the air, ready to smite him, and closed his eyes. But as his last moment dragged on for a lot longer than what it had seemed, he opened one eye and noticed that Knuckles had erupted through the roof, and had grabbed the Onyx by her legs.

"Don't think so, Amy!" he growled, barely able to hold on as she started kicking furiously.

A helicopter roared overhead momentarily, perhaps belonging to the CIA as the raucous on the White House roof had to have alerted the heavily secured area.

Instead, a small fox leapt from the running rails.

"SONIC!" yelled Tails from above as he was almost free falling, a weird contraption held aloft in his outstretched hands.

Occupied by the echidna's hearty grasp on her ankles, Amy never noticed him homing in on her head, not until he forcibly landed on her shoulders, nearly toppling her, and slamming the contraption down upon her skull.

In an instant, her fur seemed to ripple with sparks as waves of electromagnetic energy coursed through her body. She howled in pain before slumping to the ground in a smoky heap.

Slowly, she raised her head, the black energy rings collapsing from her wrists as they turned to dust.

"What the—" she moaned, holding her head and looking around with blurred vision. "Where am I?"

"It worked!" Sonic exclaimed with a fist pump. "Alright, Tails!"

However, the celebration was short-lived, for the remaining robots suddenly appeared upon the roof, mere feet from Amy.

"The robots!" Knuckles exclaimed as he exploded from the roof and landed in front of the pink hedgehog. "Amy, get out of here now!"

Petrified with fear and uncertainty as to how she had even gotten to where she was, all she could do was glance at Knuckles, and then back toward the robots, now joined by a third, all laden in shiny, metallic silver.

Knuckles turned his head and yelled for Amy to run, which became the robots' perfect opportunity to exploit, for they rushed the echidna and pummeled him before he was able to turn back around.

Sonic managed to dash over and apprehend one of the robots as the other two pursued Amy over the roof, thankfully, away from the crowd that had become raucous once again as the president recited his speech.

_I'm not going to let anything happen to Amy again!_ Sonic proclaimed as he dismantled the robot with his two hands, tearing it apart piece by piece.

"Easy, Sonic!" Knuckles said, as he and Tails each grabbed his arm. "It's down. That thing's not going to get any deader."

"I know," Sonic huffed, flicking a small piece of metal aside.

"We've got to find Amy and those other two robots!" Tails said, pointing in the direction in which they had all disappeared.

***

Rounding a corner, Amy looked back and immediately noticed that the robots had also rounded the corner, toppling a small group of tourists. They were gaining ground, and fast.

_Okay, okay,_ Amy mused as she tried to plan on where to run to next that might distance her from the advancing robots, _I'm in the White House and I'm being chased by two of Eggman's junk bots. But why me?_

She noticed the black gating that encircled the structure and made a beeline toward it, narrowly avoiding a laser shot that tore through a small tree mere inches behind her.

_I know I wasn't after Sonic, because I saw him alive,_ she confirmed to herself while squeezing through the narrow passageways the bars supplied. _But who was I after, then?_

The quick scheme worked, as the robots were unable to fit through, resorting back to their disappearing act.

Running still, Amy managed to remember the news brief on the television while at the hospital, of how the president was going to hold a conference on world peace.

Her reason finally came to her.

_I was going to kill the president! So Eggman…Eggman and that Craddock person sent these robots to stop me!_

She gasped when she noticed them materialize behind her.

_…or kill me._

Panicked, she darted over toward a cluster of trees, spotting a man in a black suit running toward her, as well as two others approaching from the other corner of the building.

In an impressive collision, Conrad, Craddock, and Kelson, who had been tracking Amy's signal from her chip through a handheld device, fell over each other and onto the ground.

Kelson was first to react when he realized whom he had run into. "Senator Conrad! I was looking for the suspect who threw the acorn, and I…"

"Shove it, Kelson!" Senator Conrad bellowed, rising to his feet, scowling as he brushed himself off and adjusted his tie. "I know everything now. Let's just find our little escapee first, then we can settle things later."

Putting his hat back on, Craddock managed to catch a glimpse of one of the robots disappearing into the small thicket of trees.

"Over there! They're over there!" he griped, pointing.

Amy heard the voices behind her, and hesitated long enough for one of the robots to latch on to her arm, gripping with an ultra tight grip then sent waves of pain up her arm.

"Ah! Let go!" she begged, wriggling in hopes of somehow freeing herself.

The other robot rushed over and nabbed her other arm just as the three men emerged from the thicket.

"So, my little creation," Craddock growled. "Thought you could get away?"

Conrad bullied his way to the front, shoving Craddock aside with a vicious scowl.

"Shut up, Craddock. Kelson, here, you finish this mess."

Kelson looked at the taser with utter disbelief. "With _this _thing?"

"Just do it."

"Stop this! You'll deep-fry her with that thing! She's much too valuable!" Craddock complained, again, trying to wrestle the contraption from his hand.

"Ah, so now the truth comes out, does it? Got yourself a hot little item on the black market?"

Craddock finally retreated a little.

"Look, this thing isn't as harmful as you think. The amplitude is set to sedate a human and nothing more."

"It is?"

"See for yourself."

Reluctantly, Louis Craddock peered at the taser and studied the fine print, which was nothing more than a warning label. But before he could react to being duped, Conrad jabbed the taser into Craddock's jaw.

The one-time general shrieked in pain before falling to the ground unconscious.

"Now you answer to me, Kelson," Conrad demanded, reaching into his suit and pulling out a large pistol adorned with a silencer attachment. "I'd assume you use the taser, but this thing's out of control, and needs to be eliminated once and for all. Once the shot is made, we retrieve the bullet and we dispose of this gun so that I don't have to explain anything to the president, and we let this be forgotten in time. That is, unless you want to end up like the general here. Are we clear?"

Kelson calmly took the gun and pledged his loyalty to Conrad, quickly taking aim at Amy, who was still being held by the two robots.

_Oh my God, they __**are**__going to kill me!_

Panicking, her eyes darted in every direction for some miracle to arrive from anywhere to save her.

But upon spotting Sonic hustling toward her, she heard the gun fire its round, and her eyes closed, allowing her life's past to flood her memories one last time.

Her friends.

_Gosh, how I remember all my friends. So many times we'd come together and defeat Eggman every time he tried to take over the world._

Sonic.

_Just once, you dope, I wished you would have at least listened to me when I told you and showed you how much I care and love you. Just once._

Her family.

_They were so devoted to each other, my mother and father. Nothing could ever separate them. That's a life I'll never know now._

And then she swore she heard a familiar voice ringing out from just behind the parade of flashbacks.

_'Why, Amy.' it said._

_'Mom?' Amy replied, searching from where the voice had come from. 'Mom, is that you?_

_'Somehow I knew I was still somewhere in that ever going mind of yours.'_

_She looked upon her mother, a beautiful woman draped in a gown of pure white. Her complexion was of a deep shade of red as if colored by the petals of a perfect rose._

_'Is…is this heaven, Mom?' Amy asked sheepishly, allowing a faint gasp to escape her._

_She blinked, but upon opening her eyes again, she noticed a tiny infant cradled within her mother's arms. It was she; as a baby, nestled in security._

_'Amy, don't ever feel afraid to understand our love,' her mother said before suddenly fading a bit._

_'Mom, I don't understand. What do you mean?'_

_And then she saw her fade some more._

_'Mom, wait! I don't understand!'_

_Her figure lingered in a faint outline for a moment longer, and then disappeared._

Behind it was the bullet, speeding toward her, ready to cast her back to her hallucination.

She was ready, and took in her last breath. But before she closed her eyes, she saw a blue figure suddenly step in front of her, arms outstretched.

Sonic staggered backward as the bullet tore through his side, blood spewing across Amy's face, as well as along the ground in a sickening zigzag.

"SONIC!" Amy gasped in sheer terror as Kelson and Conrad also shared in the same disbelief.

"Fire again!" Conrad bellowed, pointing toward Amy.

On the ground, Craddock had begun to recover from the taser attack, and groped Kelson's ankle just as he fired again, this time striking and destroying one of the robots that had held Amy's wrist, as he was startled.

Amy, seeing Sonic motionless on the ground, her emotions a whirlwind of anger, shock, fear, and sadness, finally realized that one of her hands were now free.

The angst that had a choke hold on her thoughts was instantly replaced by revenge and hatred, and her hand balled into a fist, her body ablaze with fire.

With a tremendous uppercut, the remaining robot was reduced to rubble, its parts flying toward the two men who were forced to shield their eyes from the shrapnel and allow Amy to find a temporary hiding place, which was conveniently close to the taser Conrad had used earlier.

Kelson lifted Sonic off of the ground by his throat. "Sonic?! What the--?"

"Damn it, where is she?!" Conrad blasted, scanning the area around them.

Barely able to contain her emotions from spilling over, Amy inhaled deeply, wiped her eyes, and grabbed the taser, adroitly navigating her way around the men that feverishly searched for her.

She switched the taser on as she heard the men mumbling something about how at least one thorn was removed from their side, one of Kelson's feet finding its way inches from her location.

She took full advantage of his accidental mistake, and jammed the taser down onto his foot with as much force as she could muster.

With a howl of pain, Kelson groped the air, dropping both Sonic and the gun before falling himself.

Conrad spun around to see Amy lunging for him, and dove for the gun, snatching it up off of the ground, barely avoiding the crackling blue tentacles of the taser reaching out for him.

The senator would've had a perfect shot at Amy, as he was able to spin back around and face her, had it not been for the tree root sticking up out of the ground, tripping him.

Again, the slender pink hedgehog took advantage of the situation, and crammed the taser into the senator's neck until he lay unconscious.

Gasping, she tossed the electromagnetic apparatus aside and crawled over toward Sonic, who was face down in bloodstained grass.

_Oh no, Sonic! _Amy cried to herself as she flipped him over.

She placed her fingers on his beck.

_I can't tell if there's a pulse or not._

She could feel the warmth of the hedgehog's blood trickling over her fingers. Instinctively, she managed to tear away one of her sleeves and wrap it around Sonic's body as tightly as she could, hoping that her actions would at least control the bleeding.

"Sonic," Amy gasped again, cradling Sonic's head, "Talk to me, please. Sonic, please!"

The blue hedgehog's head fell limply to one side.

_Oh no. No, no, no, no. No, this isn't good. Oh, Sonic, if you can hear me, if you can somehow hear me, let these words be the last memory you have before you go._

With tears spilling forth, Amy nuzzled as close as she could, and hugged Sonic more tightly than she had ever hugged him before.

"Sonic…I love you."


	24. Chapter 24

Sonic and all other various Sonic The Hedgehog characters are Copyright SEGA, Sonic Team, TMS Entertainment, and all other associations affiliated with the Sonic X anime/manga. All other characters belong to their rightful owner (me) and have no similarities with above-said characters whatsoever. Names used for other characters are random. Any people bearing the real name, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

24

"I love you…I love you…I love you," Amy murmured as she rocked back and forth with her arms tightly wound around Sonic's body. "Why you, Sonic? Why must it be you? You risked so much just coming back to save me, and this…this is what happens? Please, Sonic, don't leave me!"

She drew back for a moment to see if any of her words might've roused him. But upon seeing no reaction when one of her teardrops gently landed upon his head, she buried her head into his shoulder and sobbed.

_Why did I give up on you, Sonic?_ She mused between sobs. _For so long, I had loved you, and you never returned that love. For so long, I pursued you, challenged you, and even tried to trick you into loving me. I always thought you never wanted me, and in time, I just gave up and went my own way. I admit that there were other boyfriends during that time, but they could never match up to you, Sonic. They never could. I'm a fool for thinking I could just be over you…A fool._

One last time, she drew back and looked upon the blue hedgehog's face.

_I only wish I could've been more patient and be able to tell you how I really felt without making you want to run off all the time. But I guess it's too late now._

She leaned in, took one of his hands into hers, and gently kissed his forehead.

_Goodbye, my love._

But before she could draw away, she could swear she felt pressure on her hand, as if he was closing his hand around hers. She looked down and noticed right away that she was right.

"You know…Amy…you're hands are…cold…" Sonic said hoarsely, his eyes barely opening.

"SONIC!" Amy cried, unable to fathom what had just transpired.

"…I don't…feel so good…"

"Oh my God, Sonic! Are you okay? Can-—can you breathe?"

"Huh…the angels here all look… they look like Amy."

Amy felt her emotions overcome her again, and she grabbed Sonic and held him tightly against her. "No, Sonic. It's really me. Don't follow any angels right now, or any kind of light. I just want you here with me."

With an eye on her, though barely cracked open, Sonic looked at the slender pink hedgehog. "Oh…alright…"

But having slightly recovered also meant that his thought processes had begun to function normally again, as well as his nervous system, and the first real pain from the gunshot wound finally surfaced when he tried to sit up under his own power, letting loose an agonizing groan.

"Hang on, Sonic," Amy commanded, helping him lay back down. "Let me go get Knuckles."

"What about Craddock and the others that were after you?" Sonic heaved, holding his side.

Amy smiled when Sonic noticed the fallen men before her.

"I already took care of them, Sonic. You hang in there, okay? I'll be right back."

A small smile pursed his lips as he watched Amy disappear into the bushes that camouflaged the area before the pain became too much to bear, and the darkness settled back into his eyes.

***

Knuckles ran by a large fountain as he headed towards the line of shrubs as he still looked for both Amy and the pursuing robots.

_Damn it, I've been running in circles, _he cursed silently, ducking and looking under the line of vegetation._ I've got to find them fast before something happens._

"Knuckles!" rang Amy's voice from just beyond a small clearing as she burst through on her way to find the echidna.

"Amy!" Knuckles yelled, "You're safe!"

He noticed that Sonic wasn't with her.

"Where's Sonic?"

A tear formed in Amy's eye. "He's dying, Knuckles."

"Dying?!"

They both turned their attention to a pair of voices headed their way.

"No time to explain it to you, Knuckles. We've got to act fast!"

Both Amy and Knuckles dove behind a large tree near the shrub line just as the two CIA agents stepped in.

"I could've sworn I heard the voices over—" said agent Renshaw, his gun drawn, eyeing every direction.

The other agent, Garrison, ventured over to another cluster of shrubs, and immediately pointed his gun. "Alan! Over here!"

Craddock, moaning in pain from the taser's shock, slowly rose to his hands and knees, only to be tackled by Garrison, his knee driving right into the small of the ex-militant's back.

"This is Charlie squad," Renshaw reported into his communicator clipped onto his collar as Garrison applied handcuffs to Craddock. "We have two men down and a gunman in custody."

"Gunman?!" Craddock bellowed as he struggled. "What the hell?"

"Holy shit, Renshaw, LOOK!" Garrison pointed after securing Craddock.

Renshaw turned and immediately noticed the blue hedgehog perched up against the bottom of a small tree, his wound very easy to see.

"Home office," Renshaw said as he approached the injured Sonic. "I'm going to need an ambulance here immediately."

A sense of relief washed over Amy as she watched the CIA agent kneel down, continuing to talk to the dispatcher, but it did little to mask the dominating concern that swirled inside her.

***

The crowd roared in glee when the two leaders finally shook hands after the lengthy delay and the inevitable speeches comprised of promises and the usual political rhetoric that actually appeared factual instead of satirical based on how quickly the two leaders set up the entire ordeal.

As soon as President Beamon waved his last goodbye to the crowd and disappeared with his security entourage into the staging room, he grabbed Martison's arm.

"Well, we finally got through that debacle," the president growled, "Now would you mind telling me what the hell is going on around here, Martison?"

"Well, sir," the CIA head said sheepishly, "We really don't know what's going on. All I know is that there were two men reported down in the West Wing lawn and a gunman taken into custody, also found unconscious at first. And…"

The agent nervously looked around, rubbing his hands together.

"And?" asked Beamon, crossing his arms, as if he were a parent waiting for another round of creative excuses. "Spit it out, Martison."

"We also found Sonic the Hedgehog, sir."

Beamon slowly uncrossed his arms at the mere mention of that name, planting them into his sides. "I really hope you're not playing games with me, Martison, because I am definitely not in the mood for them. _The_ Sonic that helped us beat back Eggman years back?"

Stoically, Martison fired back a resounding "yes, sir."

Beamon's shoulders sagged a little, his demeanor immediately shifting from surprise to concern.

"So what do you mean when you say you 'found him,' Martison?"

"He had taken a gunshot to his lower abdomen," Martison explained, "He was still alive, but barely. We had him shipped off to infirmary along with the other two downed men."

Beamon's jaw tightened as he soaked in the disturbing information.

"Have your men secure the entire area while you go interrogate the one you have in custody."

As Martison disappeared, the President walked over to a portrait of the previous elected leader, wondering why Sonic had returned in secrecy, and why the events of the day coincidentally surrounded his unplanned arrival.

***

Hidden behind a contraption consisting of several different magnifying lenses and lights, the surgeon couldn't help but snicker at who he was operating on as he removed another piece of the bullet that had torn into Sonic's side.

"Some damage to the lower quadrant of the right lung, a couple of broken ribs, and some muscular damage," the surgeon said, as a faint clink reverberated throughout the room. "I'd say he got off pretty lucky. Good thing that bandage was there; otherwise, our friend here would've bled to death. Sponge, please."

"Yeah, who would've thought that we'd be saving Sonic's life instead of him saving ours, eh?" the assistant surgeon laughed as he handed over a small sponge and then readied the tools to apply the final stitches. "Maybe we're even now?"

The main surgeon looked up and immediately shook his head. "Not even close. How are his signs?"

"Normal…whatever that might be. Blood pressure's a little high, but stable. So what was he doing on the lawn of the White House?"

"Don't know. What I'm freaked out about is the fact that Craddock was the gunman. He was supposed to have been dead in that explosion, remember? Now he's alive? I'd sure like to know what the hell is going on around here of late. It's freakin' spooky, you know? Okay, everything's clear, swabbed out and ready for stitching."

"I hear ya. Go ahead and wash up, I'll finish here."

The surgeon began removing his gloves, but kept his eye on the hedgehog buried beneath the labyrinth of tubes, lights, and covers, wondering along with the president as to why he was even there.

Amy sat next to a small window within the waiting room as Knuckles fought with a coffee vending machine. She appeared patient, but inside, her anxiety teetered on the edge of breakdown. She knew that Sonic would make it through, but the one tingle of doubt that nestled itself within a corner of her mind always found its way to the front of her every thought, tormenting her into weighing the other option: death.

As with Rouge, it wasn't supposed to happen. Heroes weren't meant to fall.

The same image of Sonic stepping in front to absorb the bullet at the lost possible moment kept flashing in front of Amy's eyes no matter how hard she tried to stop it. She sighed softly and wiped her eyes as she kept seeing him fall to the ground in a bloody heap.

She tried to distract herself by reaching for a magazine on a nearby table, but in reaching out, she noticed the missing sleeve torn off at her shoulder, as well as the blood stained on her forearm and hand. She jerked her hand back and wrapped her arms around her waist, wondering why things were taking so damned long.

"I…uh…brought some coffee, Amy," Knuckles said, having seen Amy's reactions, offering a dilapidated cup that looked like it had been thrown into a dryer. "I had a little trouble with the stupid thing. Sorry."

Amy smiled, but the echidna knew it was feigned.

"Sonic's tough, Amy," Knuckles said, grimacing and glaring at the cup after sipping the coffee since he had never tasted it before. "You know that."

The pink hedgehog carefully cradled the cup in her hands, staring down into the steaming black liquid. "I want to think that, Knuckles. I really do. It's just that…I saw him fall, and there was so much blood everywhere…"

Amy sighed and looked out the window again.

"I don't know if even he can make it after that."

Knuckles gruffly set the coffee cup down onto the table as loudly as a Styrofoam cup could make, startling the others in the waiting room that had taken an interest in their mysterious presence. "Hey, don't talk like that! He's been in dire situations like this before, and he's come out just fine!"

"Don't you get it, Knuckles?" Amy snapped back, dropping her cup and spilling coffee all over the floor. "This has never happened to us before! We've always been able to dodge anything Eggman or anyone could throw at us, and now both Rouge and Sonic we're struck down? Are we losing our edge? Have we become more predictable?"

"Amy Rose, I cannot believe you just said that. What in the world has become of you? You used to never be like this, and now, all of a sudden, you just want to give up? Is that what you want to do, Amy? Because if you do, then you also give up on me, on Tails, Rouge, Cream, Chris, and everyone else that's been dragged into this fiasco. Think about that before you let yourself be swallowed in your own pity."

Amy glared at the echidna, but knew he was right.

"Uhm, I'm sorry if I'm interrupting anything," the surgeon who had worked on Sonic said, his hands professionally placed behind his back, hidden behind the baby blue garb, "But I have news on your friend."

Almost immediately, the quarrel ended, and both Knuckles' and Amy's attention turned toward the surgeon.

"He'll recover, in time. There was some damage internally, but nothing that won't prevent a full recovery. It's going to take some time, though."

Knuckles turned and gave an "I told you so" smile directed right at Amy, who returned one, as well as budding tears of joy. She knew better than to ever contradict the echidna's confidence.

"When can we see him?" Amy asked.

"He'll be in recovery in about twenty minutes, as my colleagues are finishing up. We'll be sure to send someone to come get you."

"Ugh…" Senator Conrad moaned as he held his neck. "Where am I?"

He sat up in his bed, looking around his surroundings until he came across a small woman with her arms crossed, a stethoscope draped over them.

"Capitol Infirmary, Senator," she said matter-of-factly. "The suspect got you in the neck with a good amount of voltage from his taser. I'm surprised he didn't fry you. Things will be tingly for a while, but you'll be just fine. Martison will be up here soon to debrief you."

After the nurse left the room, Kelson, who had listened in as he, too, had come to after the brutal taser attack, looked over to his partner-in-crime with a look of shock.

"They think Craddock got us," he said. "But once they get to the camera feeds, won't that expose us all?"

The senator gingerly walked over to his coat that had been neatly hung on the back of the door, and pulled out a small device that looked like a small pager.

"Way ahead of you, kid," he said confidently. "Don't forget that I practically own this city."

He pressed a button and immediately requested for an agent to report to the West Wing atrium video center to answer a code eighteen.

"What's a code eighteen?" Kelson asked.

"Removal of archived video for the safety of the president."

A confused look curled Kelson's eyebrows. "Removal of archived…what the hell kind of code is that, sir? I've never heard of it."

"It's because you don't work here, kid," Conrad snapped. "I know what I'm doing."

Within seconds, the pager buzzed.

"Conrad here, did you get the disc?"

Within another few seconds, the senator's face turned a deep shade of red.

"Gone? What do you mean 'it's gone'? It can't be gone!"

He looked over to Kelson, who shrugged his shoulders. Conrad wiped his face with his hand in sheer frustration.

"Alright, alright. Listen to me, and listen to me good. You'd better find that goddamn tape quick or your ass is grass and I'm the lawnmower, understand? Report back to me at once when you have it in your possession."

"Who do you think took the disc, sir?" Kelson asked, rolling up his sleeves.

"Who do you think, Kelson?" grumbled Conrad. "That fucking bitch, Topaz, that's who. I should've erased her access at the first sign of her sensing something. Her, and that goddamned Sonic."

"I'll bet she's on her way to the hospital now to see that hedgehog sense they probably transferred him there. It's like she's a part of that group. There was a fox with two tails, some weird red Jamaican thing, and a two-legged bat accompanying him when they raided our base a while back. She knows them somehow."

Conrad's face twisted into a look of crestfallen confusion. "You mean to tell me that our own FBI agent is part of this group comprised of a hedgehog, a Jamaican thing, and a bat, and they're trying to take our ultimate weapon away from us?"

"Afraid so, sir."

For a few seconds, the two men simply looked at each other, trying to comprehend their theory before erupting into a fit of laughter.

"The animals are out to get us!" Conrad wailed, balancing himself on the railing of the bed. "Ha, that's rich!"

Kelson's laughter faded a bit, into more of a nervous laugh. "Yeah, stupid idea wasn't it."

But as the two men's laughter finally subsided, they, again, looked at each other, realizing just how remarkably true their theory had actually been.

"Get us a car," Conrad commanded, his look tightening back up into one of utter hatred. "I'm going to personally make sure their story never gets told."

***


	25. Chapter 25

**I just noticed that there was a HUGE mistake in one of the character's name. Thanks to Word and it's oh-so-annoyingly _convenient _formatting thingies, Agent Martison was inadvertently replaced with _Martinson._ D'OH! I've since replaced back to Martison. It didn't interrupt the flow of the story, but things could've gotten really confusing you all thought a new character had suddenly been thrown in the mix. I do apologize for that faux pas.**

* * *

Sonic and all other various Sonic The Hedgehog characters are Copyright SEGA, Sonic Team, TMS Entertainment, and all other associations affiliated with the Sonic X anime/manga. All other characters belong to their rightful owner (me) and have no similarities with above-said characters whatsoever. Names used for other characters are random. Any people bearing the real name, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

* * *

25

"So, where are we off to, now, Topaz?" Rouge asked as she held aloft a compact disc that would ultimately raze the entire infrastructure built up and around the existence of the Onyx along with all the research sought out to turn theory into a nightmarish reality.

"I'd say to the hospital to meet up with Amy," Topaz responded, having heard the seemingly endless onslaught of calls tickling her ears with reports of who had been found unconscious, who had been wounded, and who had been taken into custody, all within the western portions of the White House lawn, all within a matter of hours since the first acorn had been thrown at the president.

She'd heard the dramatic news of Sonic being found perched against a tree, wounded, but bandaged haphazardly by Amy, all up to where he had been transferred to the local hospital from Capital infirmary once his condition had at least been stabilized and the bleeding stopped.

That was the last Topaz had heard scratch through her headphones, the volume maxed to at least drown out the laborious thudding of the helicopter blades tearing through the air.

"You think he's okay, Rouge?" she asked.

For a moment, the former treasure hunter looked out the window, and then to her legs that still bore the signs of her previous encounters with some not-so-friendly humans before stiffly reassuring Topaz that he'd be fine.

"That didn't sound convincing."

"It's because I really don't know," Rouge fired back as she ran the back of her hand down her bandaged leg, "Two of us we're downed by clumsy human bullets we should've been able to evade with ease. I mean, if Eggman himself could never ground us with his arsenals, who could? Definitely not you people."

A faint shade of red poured over Topaz's cheeks, causing her to angrily jerk her head away and try to reassert her focus on her destination.

At the mere sign of her counterpart's reaction, Rouge lightly bit her tongue, knowing that it had gotten away from her once again. She'd seen the two men that were part of Topaz's team ambushed by her own kind, mercilessly gunned down in the hopes of retaining a deadly secret not even the president himself knew about.

With an emphatic sigh, Rouge apologized, claiming that she didn't really mean what she'd said.

"It's okay, Rouge," Topaz added, composing herself. "I know what you meant. Those two men were of the very best, though, and just like that, they're gone, and for what? So that what's on that disc can land Conrad another million or two for the head of another vigilante?"

She smacked the side of the steering mechanism.

"It's so frustrating, you know? What's going on is terribly evil, and yet, these people who want nothing more than to see us destroyed are falling by the wayside, never able to threaten this country again. In a way, the Onyx was actually a _good_ thing. But…should it come to this?"

She looked to the treasure hunter for any kind of reassuring thought.

"Don't look at me," Rouge said with a shake of her hand, "I don't have any idea, either. I do, however, have a hunch that Craddock wasn't going to just stop with the elimination of all the bad guys."

Curious, Topaz glanced over and asked what she meant.

"While holed up there in the hospital waiting for my wounds to heal, I started reading what I could of some papers I managed to swipe from Area Fifty-Three concerning this Onyx thing. There was some crazy stuff going on there, you know."

"Other than what Craddock was doing?" Topaz asked.

A few lines of concern wrinkled Rouge's forehead. "I remember something about an archaeological dig around South America where the strange jewel had been uncovered. It was a black shard once thought to be obsidian rock, but upon investigating its structure, researchers encountered massive magnetic waves emanating from it. That's where their government stepped in, confiscated it, and shut down the site. The shard was never classified as anything. In fact, it disappeared altogether once your employer got their hands on it."

Topaz began descending as the medical center came into sight, but her curiosity ran rampant and caused her to narrowly miss an office building, and also causing Rouge to panic a little, which was rare.

"Want me to fly this thing?" Rouge said uncomfortably.

"Sorry," Topaz responded, reasserting her attention. "So how did it end up here, at Area Fifty-Three of all places?"

"The last thing I can remember reading was that a monetary transaction had been reached that led to G.U.N. acquiring the shard for paradimensional investigation, as they put it. While everyone was focused on ARK, apparently, secret tests were being run on the shard to see what kind of output besides magnetic waves the gem emitted. I guess they got more than they bargained for because that room Knuckles and I found ourselves in was obliterated, like a giant ball of energy had formed and cut a perfect circle through everything."

"Giant ball of energy? You don't suppose…"

Rouge's eyes slanted. "They somehow created chaos control, but with a different twist. Topaz, That shard must be a piece of another chaos emerald we never knew about; and it's stored in a secret place where only _certain_ people are allowed."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Topaz demanded, taken aback at first by the sudden and abrasive comment before realizing the underlying insinuation. "You mean me?"

"You still have access to the good stuff, don't you?"

"Well, yeah, but even our top executives can only access so much. I'd have to go through…I'd almost certainly be fired on the spot if I were caught, or worse."

Rouge flipped the DVD case between her fingers. "Think about what's on this disc, Topaz. We don't move on this, then I might as well trash this, let Craddock win, and those men you lost will have died for nothing. Is that what you really want?"

Topaz stared at the one thing that would all but dismantle a huge section of the U.S. government once the video inside would reach the right people. Craddock would be locked away for the remainder of his life, as would Conrad for crimes of treason against his own country. A sense of panic began to overtake her as she began to wonder of the entire FBI unit would be torn asunder, making way for a fresh new wave of people unaware that anything had ever happened so that there was very little risk of bias to be found. Where would she go? How would she be treated once the people knew of her involvement with the whole sequence of events?

Or would she, along with everyone else involved, be permanently removed, silently forgotten so that the government sworn to protect would only protect itself from a permanent black eye at the behest of those sacrificed, much like the aftermath of the ARK incident?

Her ponderings would have to wait, as a direct command suddenly came over her headset. "Aircraft Charlie-Charlie-Juliet-Fox one five four two, this is control tower at GW Med Center, please state destination."

"Control," Topaz said with a gulp. "This is Lieutenant Tanaka with the FBI requiring clearance to land on the rooftop helipad."

"Copy, Lieutenant. You are clear to land on helipad two. Be advised that you have been requested assistance by a…uhm…"

"What is it, tower?"

"Well, I'm not sure how to say this, but a fox with two tails is awaiting your arrival at the helipad. Is this some sort of joke or what?"

A smile curled Topaz's lips. "No, he's with us."

"May I ask--?"

"No, you may not. Are we clear?"

A brief pause came and went before a reply finally emerged: "Roger that. I didn't see anything either."

Upon lowering the helicopter over the landing pad, both Topaz and Rouge could see Tails waving his arms, obviously glad to see them.

"When did you get here?" Topaz shouted as she ran towards the fox, ducking to avoid being sucked up into the blades that began to slow.

"Not very long," Tails shouted back. "I heard on the news of an incident at the White House lawn involving a blue hedgehog, and that he had been transferred to here, so I got here as fast as I could."

"Did you fly here?" Rouge asked. "You've got be pretty worn out, then."

Tails sheepishly looked over to the ledge of the building. "Well, I flew all right, but not in the manner you might think."

"You've got to be kidding me," Topaz gasped, having walked over to peer down over the ledge.

"What?" Rouge asked, joining her.

Parked askew along the side of the parking lot was a long black limousine swarming with the curious and the excited as they peered into the dark windows that would once hide the president from such onlookers.

"I am in _so_ much trouble," Topaz mumbled to herself as she wiped her hand over her face. "Do I even dare ask how you managed to get one of the president's caravan limos?"

"It was actually rather easy," Tails said, walking over and also looking down at the activity that continued around the terribly parked vehicle. "While everyone was busy with what was going on out front, I managed to make my way to the garage. Who knew the Secret Service agents would actually leave the keys inside the cars? Lucky me, I guess."

"Come to think of it, Topaz," Rouge added, "We saw hardly anyone roaming the lower levels when we transferred the video feed to the disc from right there in the master control room. How long were we in there? Ten minutes? And no one bothered to check the room? Even Eggman has better security in his bases that that!"

Topaz looked upon the two with a totally crestfallen expression. The White House was, and always had been, the epitome of security, yet within a matter of a day, they had reduced it to a mere mockery, having only stepped foot inside the main ballroom for only a few hours from their previous visit years earlier. The final straw was reached, though, when they continued to harp on it by providing even more examples of easy exploitations.

"Guys! That's enough!" Topaz hissed. "Point taken! Now can we _please_ get inside? Now?"

"Okay, okay," Rouge bantered, laughing. "We promise not to tell anyone."

"Topaz," Tails asked, peering back at the helicopter, sporting a concerned look. "Where's Chris?"

"He's not with you?" Rouge answered.

The small fox shook his head and swallowed hard. "You think Craddock--?"

"Nope. No way. The last we saw, he was getting handcuffed and thrown into a cruiser."

Reluctantly, Tails agreed, but glanced over in the direction of the airport they had been ambushed as the others waited for him at the door. Remnants of a thin pillar of smoke lazily dangled in the air.

A sick feeling came over Tails' stomach as he began to wonder just what in the world could've happened.

"Tails," Rouge continued, "I'm sure he's okay. Now c'mon, let's get inside."

The first to meet the three was Knuckles, who had spotted Rouge and the others exiting the elevator.

"Tails!" the echidna shouted, waving to garner the young fox's attention. "Over here! Tails, that gizmo you created worked like a charm on Amy!"

"I'm glad it did," Tails replied. "But to be honest with you, I was very unsure of what it would do, exactly. That was one heck of a jolt I got when the magnetic waves were administered! It threw me over the ledge and into some bushes where I just laid there for a while. It felt like every part of my body was numb. How I managed to not be seen is beyond me. Did you get the video feed, Rouge, Topaz?"

"Right here," Rouge said, handing the DVD over to the vulpine genius. "Topaz took care of the tape after I transferred the data over."

For a moment, it seemed as if things were finally beginning to turn a positive side before the group entered the room where Sonic had been taken to after coming out of recovery.

Amy, who had been sitting at the foot of the bed, slowly looked over to the group and smiled. She had been crying.

"Is he going to be okay?" Tails asked, reluctantly approaching the mess of tubes and other electrical gadgets hooked up to his best friend.

"They think so," Amy said with little confidence. "I can't believe he jumped right in front of those bullets to save me."

The small fox could hear Amy, but whether or not he wanted to was another thing. His focus had averted to Sonic. Almost his entire body had been wrapped in bandages, and tubes of various shapes and sizes meandered from his wrists, face, and mouth to a slew of gadgets each emitting its own unique blend of electronic sounds to inject various medications to both soothe what pain might still be invading the hedgehog's broken body, as well as help accelerate the healing process.

Tails swallowed hard as he crept up to the bed, extra careful to not touch any of the tubes, silently promising that he would put an end to the carnival they had been thrown into, never again leaving the comfort of their homes.

"Craddock and Eggman are going to pay for this," he mumbled with trembling lips, wiping his eyes. "If you'll excuse me, everyone, I'm going to the media room, transfer this to a digital file, email it to the head of security, and end this so we can go find Chris and make sure he's okay."

But before he could leave, Amy grabbed his wrist and surrounded him with a hug to prevent him from hastily acting upon actions that were currently embroiled in a mental tempest fueled by confusion, angst, and anger, as well as show how much she was thankful for his genius that had ultimately saved her from certain death.

"We will, Tails," she said, tightening her grip. "But we do it using our heads. Don't go filled with anger."

Tails sighed, allowed a single tear to navigate the length of one of his whiskers and dangle precariously above the floor, as well as the brunt of Amy's hug to draw out the sadness and anger from seeing Sonic down that he had kept inside.

"You're right, Amy. I just wish none of this had ever happened," Tails whispered. "To you, or anyone."

"I know," Amy whispered back, letting Tails free. "The important thing is that those involved are going to be gone for good once we expose them, and something like this will never happen again."

"Damn right," Knuckles added. "I just wish I could see Conrad's face once the president sees the video on that disc!"

"I'll bet he'll have some explaining to do," Topaz added. "Which is why Rouge and I grabbed the video. We figured that he also knew the cameras were on him, and that he'd try to go back and alter it somehow so that his name would be cleared."

"Good thing a good treasure hunter like me was able to get to it first, though," Rouge confirmed with crossed arms and a sly smile. "This is the only real hard evidence we have that'll expose this whole Onyx project to the core."

"But won't they know that the video's missing by now?" Amy asked.

"Probably," Topaz said. "Conrad knows we're behind it, so I'm guessing that he'll be finding a way here to either kidnap him, or worse, just to get us to surrender the video."

"We don't have much time, then" Amy added. "We'll need to keep a lookout for Conrad while Tails constructs the email."

"You got it, Amy!" said Knuckles. "We'll nail 'em!"

"Be careful, guys," Amy said as she watched everyone disappear. But before she left to join Tails inside the media room, she solemnly placed a small kiss upon Sonic's forehead and promised him that she'd be right back.

"Ah, you made it just in time!" Tails exclaimed while turning to face Amy as she entered the dark room, gawking at the immaculate display of technology. "For a hospital, they have one heck of a setup here. I was able to draw up a detailed diagram of the location of Area Fifty-Three and then link up a video of you, Miss Rose, kicking some major butt on the White House lawn. I was even able to include an audio track of their voices since they record everything. The last part was a write-up of our entry into the base, our findings, and everything else wrapped around this conspiracy. If this doesn't convince them to lock up Craddock and Conrad for good, nothing will."

The pink hedgehog heard what Tails had said, but said nothing, as her focus was transfixed on the repeating section of video where Sonic darted in front of her, taking the bullet intended for her.

Even from an entirely different perspective, the event sent shockwaves through her body.

Tails noticed.

"Amy, I don't mean to sound rude, but if we don't send this out now, they'll have figured out a way to clear themselves one way or another. I know it's tough seeing that, but we have to send this email out now."

Amy stiffened her bottom lip, and promptly pressed the ENTER key on the keyboard, sending the anonymously addressed email out.

"Well let's send it then and let those bastards get what they deserve," she hissed.

* * *

"General Louis Craddock," Martison scoffed, tossing down the folder that contained all of the info regarding the one-time military leader, its contents spilling out to where the general could easily see it. "Haven't see you around in a while." He quickly planted his hands palm down onto the table, causing a slight flinch from those in attendance, including Craddock. "Oh, that's right, you were declared dead after you decided to blow your first base of operations into the stratosphere."

Bound by security ties that forced him to clasp his hands together upon the table, Craddock sneered at the surveillance photos of his bases, photos of his time spent in military, as well as the papers signifying his collapse into the twisted world normally populated by hardened criminals with no chance of ever coming back.

Martison flopped down onto one of the chairs opposite Craddock, and brazenly propped his feet up onto the small table housed inside the stereotypical interrogation room lit by only the lone hanging light.

"So, now you're alive again and up to no good with that Eggman fellow, stating that you're both sub-contracted by our defense department?" he asked. "Do you honestly expect me to believe that?"

"You're Goddamn right I do," Craddock snarled. "Conrad will explain everything. I'm not talking."

_Senator Conrad?_ Thought Martison through a disbelieving frown. Not willing to accept Craddock's word, he lunged over the table and grabbed the general's shirt.

"If you think for one minute that I'm going to believe that one of our own was behind this crazy concoction, you're –"

Agent Renshaw suddenly tapped his superior's shoulder. "Al, you are not going to _believe_ the anonymous email we just got."

At first, the CIA head was confused, but upon seeing the revelation behind the insinuation as to what was inside that email, as well as a bead of sweat cascading down Craddock's temple as his facial reaction shifted from cocky to concerned, things finally began to fall in place as to why the president's peace speech had been so rudely interrupted.

"Is that so?" he said, grinning and looking the once-feared general straight in the eye for a moment before leaving with the other agent, the general now alone with his thoughts that would soon betray him just as Conrad had.

* * *

Grumbling, Joseph Conrad plunged the syringe into a bottle filled with a clear liquid as his newly acquired cohort, Kelson weaved in and out of traffic as they sped toward the hospital Sonic had been transferred to.

"Fucking hedgehog will learn to never ever screw with the U.S. government like this. Especially _me_," he growled, removing the syringe and carefully flicking the side to ensure no air had been trapped inside. "A little potassium chloride with an additive to simulate a natural case of heart failure will do the trick for us. Even better, with the additive, it becomes highly contagious, so if any of his friends even so much as touches him, they'll be dead within hours."

"Good," Kelson said, recklessly speeding through a series of red lights, nearly causing multiple collisions. "I want this whole goddamned mess to be put behind me once and for all!"

Kelson's wish came true, as the mess did end up behind him in the form of two CIA cars coupled with local police that had somehow found them, and were now in pursuit and closing rapidly.

"Damn it," Conrad bellowed after noticing their followers in the side mirror, "We picked up some company, kid. See what you can do to lose them."

Nodding, Kelson began to zigzag throughout the inner city streets, finding all the shortcuts and alleyways once should know when trying to outrun the police, thanks to an ultra-fast GPS. It was only a matter of time before they found themselves creeping along a narrow passageway between two condemned buildings, partially hidden by protruding dumpsters.

"Well done, Kelson," Conrad said, releasing his seat belt. "I'll take it from here, now. We're only a few blocks away from the medical center."

But as Conrad walked to the other side of the car, he suddenly drew out a pistol equipped with a silencer attachment and fired one bullet into the window and into the side of Kelson's head, killing him instantly.

"Sorry kid, but trust only goes so far. That's how things work around here."

Hearing the sound of sirens approaching, Conrad quickly snatched Kelson's sunglasses off of his face, ripped off his tie, and donned a baseball cap he had stuffed inside his overcoat before disappearing around the corner, unseen by the CIA and police that eventually surrounded the alleyway.

Guns brandished everywhere, Martison raced toward the car, demanding that both come out. He saw the figure on the driver's side slumped over. His stomach knotted almost instantly.

Careful, he approached and peered inside to see splattered blood spewed across the seat and dash, as well as peppered across the windshield.

"Damn it, Conrad," Martison softly said, sheathing his gun and placing his fingers upon Kelson's bloodied neck, but already knowing the answer.

Garrison walked up behind Martison, his rifle perched on his shoulder, as others began to rope off the area. "So, where do you think he went, Al?"

"Who knows? Knowing him, I'll bet he's headed straight for the airport on a plane to another country. Get in touch with Dulles and have them hold all international flights. Don't let him leave."

As he watched Garrison walk off with his phone up to his ear, Martison looked back upon the limp body of the young and aspiring agent who happened to fall amongst the wrong crowd, wondering what could ever drive people like Conrad and Craddock into committing something so terrible.

* * *

Conrad eyed everyone who laid eyes on him as he passed through the front doors of the hospital. Men and women of all ages, children both who were visiting and who were patients scurried to and fro, some watching, some not, the disguised senator carrying a potentially lethal catastrophe should it fall into the wrong hands casually make his way toward the elevator since he had been able to receive vital information as to what room the blue hedgehog now resided in after being released from the recovery room. After all, he was still part of the U.S. government despite the whirlwind of events that had circumvented the entire day. And though he knew his seemingly limitless amount of access and power would inevitably come to an abrupt end, he had every intention of exercising that power to the fullest extent.

Several agents stationed at various sections of the lobby, surveyed the steady stream of people coming and going right along with Knuckles, Topaz, and Rouge. Conrad spotted them, but made no attempt to garner their attention, save the necessity to up his gait so as to not let his sense of bad taste cause a reaction. After all, it wasn't everyday that someone would be caught dead wearing an old brown overcoat over neatly pressed pants, polished shoes made of genuine alligator skin, and a beat up baseball cap that partially hid the cheap sunglasses that partially hid his wandering and nervous eyes.

A couple of the agents eventually took notice of him, but because the lobby buzzed with activity, it wasn't long before they eventually discounted him as being just another face in the crowd.

The elevator ride up to the fourth floor became excruciating to Conrad as he fought with the premise of what to say to the agent that would certainly be waiting for anyone and everyone wanting to exit onto that floor. He knew Sonic would be under close guard, and that the entire floor would be off limits, its inhabitants shipped elsewhere so that security could be heightened.

He pondered losing the disguise and confronting the CIA agent as himself, Senator Joseph Conrad, Chief Advisor to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, hoping that news of his double-crossing the president for the hope of escalating himself to the top by the means of military force had not yet reached them.

_Knowing that fool Martison,_ Conrad mused with a wry smile as he adjusted his tie once the elevator slowed to a stop on the fourth floor, _he'll be sending his people toward the airport on the thought that I'll try to leave the country on reasons of personal clemency based on today's events. He'll be throwing orders for some agents to go there, but not let those here know about anything just yet so as to not have them leave their posts. Idiot._

As he had suspected, an agent stationed just beyond the double doors turned, surprised at the sight of the senator.

"Sir?" the agent said, haphazardly saluting. "What are you doing here?"

"Heard there was some commotion going on at sixteen hundred today," retorted Conrad dryly, hoping to feign ignorance while exerting the last of his authoritative muscle to gain the upper hand one last time. "I also heard that an important fellow had been injured pretty badly and was taken here for treatment. I figured it was my civil duty to at least pay my respects and leave behind my own well wishes."

The agent seemed a little suspicious, as normal actions at the White House would've escorted him along with the others to an undisclosed location when danger was about the area, but dared not to step on his superior's toes for fear of being terminated right there on the spot. "You'd be correct sir. They've got him down in room forty-fifteen. With everything going on, I have to ask that you not take very long, sir. If you want, I can call in an escort."

Conrad smiled and slyly dipped his hand into the pocket that contained the syringe. "There's no need for that. I shouldn't be long at all."

After clumsily saluting, Conrad began his descent down the hallway to room 4015, exhaling his relief that the stationed agent had not yet been sent the news.

_Forty twenty-three,_ he reminded himself as he eyed each sign by each door. However, upon glancing to his right, he spotted his goal: Room 4015.

_Forty-fifteen? Odd numbering system they have here. Oh well, I'm here. Now, time to end this nonsense once and for all._

With one last glance at the agent who had retaken his stance by the elevator doors just to make sure he was still ignorant of his intent, Conrad turned the handle to the door and slowly made his way inside.

_Perfect_, Conrad thought while he crept up to the bed, investigating the lone light shining over the top while carefully pulling out the syringe. _No light to cast shadows._

He stood tall over the curled lump hidden beneath the multiple sheets of blue, careful not to let the building laugh of what he was about to do escape the comfort of his mouth. And with a single swift move, he plunged the syringe and injected the lethal fluid.

He drew back, watching the remnants of the fluid bleed over the sheets, darkening as the spot grew. He expected some sort of reaction, but when there was none, he first concluded that perhaps he had been put into a comatose state to allow for uninterrupted healing.

But that theory vanished as he noticed that the machines hooked up to the bed were not even on. Confused, his frustration and anger beginning to boil over somewhat, he ripped the sheet off of the bed to unveil the two pillows purposely planted to mimic the blue-colored hero.

_WHAT THE HELL?_ Conrad cursed to himself, knocking the pillows off of the bed and grabbing his chin after his hard-to-get serum soaked in. _Everything is backfiring! Why? WHY?_

He glanced over at the folded up overcoat on the other bed, remembering that he had felt a cigarette pack within one of the pockets on his way toward the hospital; Kelson's last pack.

_God, I haven't had a cigarette in almost twelve years, but I could sure use one right now._

Ignoring all hospital policies about the dangers of smoking, especially within patients' rooms, the senator plucked the beat up package out, along with a lighter, shaking it until one finally poked out.

_Thank God._

His hands shook as he flicked the top of the lighter, igniting it and letting the small flame cast the room into a mixture of blue and orange, nonchalantly brought the flame up to the cigarette stuck between his puckered lips, and sucked in to allow the flame to incinerate the end so that it would provide its temporary fix for potential nervous breakdowns.

A vigorous exhale soon followed, and a wave of toxic second hand smoke rolled throughout the room. He had relaxed, but only somewhat.

_What the hell else can possibly go wrong?_

Again, he brought the cigarette up to his mouth and took a long drag, letting the bright orange glow of the end of his cigarette illuminate his face. But, he noticed that the cigarette was losing its luster. Another dose of flame would remedy that.

But as he flicked the lighter, he couldn't help but frown at a hissing sound that had been emanating from the bathroom. Curious, he ventured over and opened the door as he fought with the lighter that suddenly decided to become stubborn.

And just as the lighter finally obliged the senator's persistent requests for it to light, he found the reason for the hiss: a bundle of four oxygen tanks resting upon the toilet, each valve turned to maximum output.

Upon his crestfallen expression of just how cruel his fate had been to him, the senator's lit cigarette hung precariously, stuck perhaps by the dried saliva that had coated it, until it finally fell to the ground, alongside the lighter that still bore its bright flame, the oxygen once contained within the restroom now a violent tempest of flames that viciously raced toward the mouth of each valve.

_I hate you, Sonic the Hedgehog._

_

* * *

_

Sorry for the lengthy delay in this chapter. Writer's block, combined with a hefty workload was the cause. But, I do hope this makes up for it as we move further along! Again, thanks to all who've read, replied, and have helped. You've been uber-helpful!


	26. Chapter 26

Sonic and all other various Sonic The Hedgehog characters are Copyright SEGA, Sonic Team, TMS Entertainment, and all other associations affiliated with the Sonic X anime/manga. All other characters belong to their rightful owner (me) and have no similarities with above-said characters whatsoever. Names used for other characters are random. Any people bearing the real name, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

* * *

26

Mere seconds after the initial blast, orderlies, nurses, and aides were running amuck, some with fire extinguishers, towards the source. Agents stationed along the wing immediately began to cordon off the area to the throng of curious and panicky onlookers that began to fill the adjoining hallways.

"Do not be alarmed," a voice buzzed over the loudspeaker, "The blaze is contained to one room so we will not be engaging in any evacuation. Please remain calm and in your rooms until further notice."

Those that had stopped to listen to what the ceiling had just said began looking at each other, obviously agreeing that it was much easier to say what was said instead of actually feeling it, for the smoke that had billowed from the room in the adjacent wing had meandered around the corner, its appearance menacing and very intimidating.

Knuckles, who had poked his head out of the door, frowned at how clumsy the whole ordeal had been handled before retreating back in to face everyone else that had piled up behind him, obviously both curious and shocked at the explosion.

"Well?" asked Rouge, her arms folded. "Aren't you going to enlighten us with what's going on out there?"

The echidna glared at her. "_Well,_ it's obvious that an explosion took place and that the people out there apparently have it under control, if that's what you're asking."

"It had to be Craddock and Eggman behind this," Tails announced, shuffling back over to the window. "Who else would know about Sonic being here?"

"Senator Conrad, that's who," said a voice standing at the doorway.

It was the agent from the other wing that had met the senator off of the elevator, donned in sunglasses and the traditional black suit. In his hand, he held a small plaque bearing the number to Sonic's room. "Apparently, the room numbers had been switched. Someone knew that Conrad would be making a trip over here to kill off Sonic in last-ditch effort to save his skin. Too bad we were already on to him. Well, me at least."

The agent confidently plucked his glasses off and grinned wide, allowing his friends to look upon his clean-shaven face.

"So, _someone_ had to take some action to prevent that from happening, you know? Sucks I had to waste a room like that and scare everyone, but I didn't know what else to do."

"Chris!" Tails exclaimed, pointing.

"You did that?" Topaz asked with a smile. "Impressive, but how?"

Chris laughed and tucked the sunglasses into the inner pocket of his suit. "Kind of weirdly, to be honest. Those guys that ambushed us left me for dead in that SUV, but I eventually came to and headed over to the hangar where the X-Tornado was being held in, having already seen all the damage done. Once the FBI began investigating the scene, they found me inside the hangar. I had some scrapes and bruises, but nothing I couldn't shake off with a couple of aspirin and some bandages. But by the time everything was said and done, you guys had already taken off, so I had to figure out how I could get myself to the White House in time.

"It was a good thing my dad still some ties to the CIA administration since he supplied them with their computer setups long ago. He was able to get me transported to sixteen hundred Pennsylvania Avenue courtesy of the FBI."

"But how did you know Conrad was also behind this?" Topaz asked, intrigued, suspicious.

Chris' face reddened somewhat with guilt. "When I first dealt with Craddock before all of this happened, I already knew Conrad was with the Defense Department, so I kind of put two and two together once things started happening after Area fifty-three. I didn't really expect him to come here to do what he tried to do, though, considering his stance with the government and all."

"And this?" Tails asked, grabbing the bottom of Chris' suit.

Chris laughed. "Just a black suit bought at a clothing store. Nothing more. So how's Sonic?"

"He'll make it," Amy said softly, her hands intertwined with Sonic's as he lay unconscious still, the soft hum of the machines linked to him by way of clear tubing reverberating around the room despite the constant wave of activity outside his door as people began cleaning up the mess in what was supposed to be room 1025. "He's strong."

Chris took a long look at his blue friend confined to a bed when he knew that he'd rather be out speeding along some unbeaten path, guided only by whatever his heart, soul, and imagination had panned out for him. But as Amy had said, he was strong. It would be no time until he _would_ be back on his ever-going feet. The real question would be whether or not he'd ever be quite the same again.

He shook his pessimism free, noticed Amy's solemn stare, transfixed on him.

"It's finally over, isn't it?" she asked.

And with a simple, soft smile, Chris noticed right away the almost transcendent wave of relief that had been devoid of the group for such a long time wash over them all much like a cool soothing breeze one feels upon his skin during the height of a mid-summer's day. Smiles were abundant, and shoulders stiffened by unyielding tension finally released themselves as the truth began to sink into their veins.

Chris leaned against the wall and exhaled, perhaps he, too, allowing the days of uncertainty, skepticism, fear, anxiety, and so many other emotions that revolved around the core of the tenacious storm that had besieged him and his friends for countless days and nights to wash free from his body. "Yeah, it's over."

***

Still unable to move much thanks to the vicious wound he had sustained, Sonic finally convinced the group to return home while he would continue his rehabilitation there at the hospital and within the White House, insisting that he was in good hands. It was more important that Amy reorient herself with her old surroundings so as to speed up the emotional healing she needed most.

After all, he had pointed out, they never knew when Eggman would mysteriously resurface and cause havoc as he normally would. They'd have to be ready when he'd eventually be.

Secretly, though, Sonic wanted Amy as far away from the nation's capital as she could get until things would eventually simmer.

That was four months ago.

Upon returning home thanks to Chris' teleportation device he was convinced to keep now that the real dangers had passed (as well as linked so that their worlds could easily share communications as if it were a mere video phone), the group led Amy back to her house.

The upkeep both inside and out deeply touched the slender hedgehog, as everything that had been so hastily left behind, remained that way, untouched so as to remind her that she had never been forgotten when she had disappeared.

And as word of her miraculous return spread, visitors from all over began to descend upon her small home. Though emotionally straining at times, she always dropped what she was doing to make an appearance and give a reassuring hug. Those curious enough to ask were given the same answer cited over and over again: that she had been kept inside a hidden lab, and that she had simply slipped through the proverbial cracks. It wasn't exactly a lie, but it was good enough for the group, for the whole story behind it all was privy only to them.

Tails had kept her informed of what was going on, as Topaz and Chris would chime in daily just to see how things were going, and within those reports, it was easily predicted that the government spoke very little of the events surrounding that day to anyone, let alone the media. They would address the proverbial can of worms in private.

But thanks to Topaz's insight, they eventually found out that both Craddock and Conrad had been sentenced to life terms for the death of those involved with the project, and the rest sentenced to various imprisonment terms based on their involvement. Eggman had literally vanished from sight, having not been seen or heard from despite the tireless efforts of the FBI and CIA.

But what was troublesome to the group was the fact that Area 53 still existed through the data the FBI and CIA had confiscated, securing it into a airtight vault somewhere in an undisclosed location not even Topaz knew. They had hoped that the sheer brutality behind the project would be more than enough for them to destroy everything associated with it and forever prevent such an atrocity from ever rising from the ashes again. However, such was not the case, and though it frustrated the group, especially Amy, Topaz insisted that it was as good as gone since it was locked away, and the key to the vault was kept within the president's quarters under close security.

They eventually trusted their friend, but not without discomfort.

Amy figured that Sonic probably knew a lot more than he should, regardless of the fact that his face had been plastered over every TV screen, newspaper, and magazine around the globe since being appointed special resident of the White House while his recovery continued.

Even then, she was far too anxious to get him home once he would be well enough, for there was way too much that was unresolved to simply let things be at ease; Far too much.

There were times she would reflect back on the videoconferences Eggman and Craddock would have with the mysterious International Army of Peace that she would eavesdrop on, even though she could barely hear what was being said. She knew that it had to be some group much like the behind ARK; so terribly influential that even the most solid of governments could be brought down once the corrupt would be persuaded to join. Oh, how she swore that she'd gather the group and embark on a mission that would destroy the clandestine group.

Then again, she wondered if the president was already working on such a plan. Maybe Topaz had a group working on it already. Either way, it would simply have to wait because Amy had something else that had been weighing on her mind that she'd been putting off for far too long anyway.

It was when she was cleaning a room inside her house that she got a call from Tails, inviting her over to his lab, as Chris needed to share some exciting news with the group.

"Amy, get your behind in here!" yelled Knuckles from inside the lab where the teleportation device hummed to life, an image of Chris' smiling face floating between the staging pillars.

"I'm coming!" she yelled as she scampered inside, haphazardly discarding her coat. "What's going on?"

"Hi, Amy!" Chris said, obviously impatient. "You'll never guess who made the news today."

Amy planted a fist into her side and flopped down on a nearby chair. "I have my hunches."

"Oh, it's better than this, Amy," Tails added, winking to Chris.

Skeptical, Amy shrugged her shoulders and asked what the hullabaloo was this time, and as Chris stepped aside so that his TV could fill the blue-tinted hologram powered by a chaos emerald, Amy's eyes drew wide.

"Look who's back on his feet," Knuckles announced proudly.

It was Sonic in all his unheralded glory, running amuck somewhere along the southwest deserts of New Mexico and Arizona, obviously hindering himself so that the cameras wouldn't struggle to keep up. He was back to his old self, complete with a new and improved ego.

"Ah, it was just a simple flesh wound," he replied to an impromptu question from a reporter that was following him. Flashes of light cascaded from every direction as photographers had also descended on his location, obviously wanted as the blue flash posed for every photo taken.

"He hasn't changed at all, has he," Amy said with a curt grin, trying to feign her obvious excitement at how good he looked despite how close he had come to death. She flushed as she watched him.

"As soon as I can fix the X-Tornado, we'll go get him!" Tails added.

Amy never moved her stare from the hologram. "How soon will that be?"

Tails looked back toward the large tarp that covered the X-Tornado, it's shape evident that some major parts of the plane were still missing. "Well," he said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "It still needs some parts, so I'm not sure."

Cream, who had been silent for most of the night, finally chimed in. "I say we go get the parts and get this thing done so we can bring him home!"

The group unanimously agreed and was just about to depart when Rouge finally arrived, Sapphire clinging to her shoulder. "Sorry, guys. Miss I-Like-Throwing-Fits here kinda kept me back. What'd I miss?"

As everyone began telling their own version of what transpired with Chris and the news, Amy's eyes locked onto the small toddler.

_So there's the reason she'd been gone for so long,_ she concluded as she watched Rouge place the baby down onto the floor along with a few toys she had brought along, one of which, a purple dragon with a long black stitch up its abdomen. _She is absolutely adorable!_

"Are you kidding me?" Rouge clamored, looking at the ceiling. "I just get here and you're all leaving? Well, c'mon Sapphy…"

But the small bat-echidna hybrid was determined to stay put, writhing every which way as Rouge tried to pick her up, culminating in a vicious tantrum that stung everyone's ears.

"Rouge," Amy said, walking over to where the former treasure hunter turned mother, "Let me watch her. You guys go on ahead."

"Gladly," Rouge obliged, placing the squirming child back onto the floor, satisfying her almost immediately.

"Well, we'll be back soon, I guess," Tails said, and departed with the rest of the group.

Silence, save the intermittent hums from Sapphire as she played with the dragon, permeated the air around Amy as she knelt onto the floor, marveling at the little girl that wasn't even supposed to be there.

"So you must be Sapphire, whom I've heard all about," Amy said, adroitly leaning over and playfully tickling the unsuspecting toddler in her neck. Sapphire squealed with delight and retreated backwards with her toys. "Aren't you just a sweetheart!"

It was obvious that Sapphire didn't quite understand what Amy was saying, but it had to be good because the pink hedgehog was smiling. So, she scooted forward and handed Amy a stuffed animal and smiled as her red-tipped bangs found their way in front of her face, and never seeming to bother her.

Amy still had a hard time believing that Rouge, of all people, would end up the one with the child. There was speculation, yes, because of her demeanor that would sometimes mislabel her as being promiscuous, but that was the last thing on her mind. She flirted only to take advantage of people until she could get what she wanted from them, and simply leave them with broken hearts and an empty wallet, safe, or even vault.

She hadn't been told the whole story behind Sapphire's existence, only bits of inconclusive pieces from when Cream had arrived once Amy had returned home.

Regardless, it mattered little now that she had finally seen Sapphire in the flesh, and getting to spend some time with the youngster was just fine with her, as this was perfect practice come the day she would have children of her own.

_Children_, she pondered, watching Sapphire tap her toy on the one Amy was holding and making noises that resembled kisses.

It seemed right, anyway. Sonic would come home and Amy would, again, greet him in the walkway up to her house. He'd present a white rose to her and tell her that he loved her, and then they'd live happily ever after with their children.

Amy smirked. It was too perfect, and way too corny to ever think that it would actually happen: especially with Sonic.

_Back to reality, Amy, _she told herself. _It was just another rescue for him, and nothing more. He'll just avoid you like he always does, and go off running to who knows where again. Why do you always go and get your hopes up like this only to see him crumple them up like a damned piece of paper?_

She had almost succeeded in second guessing herself had it not been for Sapphire, who had stopped playing and watched Amy spiral into self disparity, thanks, in part, to her staring blankly at the floor, crawled over, and wrapped her arms around Amy's waist, snapping her out of her self-pitied trance.

And that's when it hit her.

_The picture, _she thought, going back to when she had begun to tidy up her house, she had come across the small photo frame which used to contain the one thing that always brought her a smile even when things seemed bleak: her and Sonic enjoying a moment, albeit awkward, together.

It was gone, perhaps succumbed to the weight of time, or perhaps taken by someone yearning to forever remember her. The latter had to be true, because when people would visit, they would rarely take notice of it. Only Sonic would ever remark on it, noting that it needed to be somewhere less visible.

She concluded that Sonic _had_ to have taken it, daring not to question why other than what her expectations had been telling her. Perhaps the truth was too much to stomach, or perhaps not. Maybe she simply didn't want to listen to the truth, but her heart instead.

What her mom had told her in the spirit world made sense now, and she thanked them heartily as she scooped up Sapphire, her toys, and went directly to her house.

***

Nightfall had begun to settle across the landscape, and the others were still out gathering parts for the X-Tornado. Sapphire had fallen asleep on Amy's couch, clutching a toy in each hand while the pink hedgehog dug through an old chest containing items her mother had given her before her death from a disease no doctor there could ever identify. It was heartbreaking, but the frail hedgehog never once showed that she was in pain, for fear that Amy would find fear where there should be none.

As she continued to dig, she came across a small photo of her father, whom she never really got to know after he had died when she was just an infant. He was a burly hedgehog of dark maroon, leaning on a massive hammer that bore a striking resemblance to her own. She never knew what he had succumbed to, be it a disease, or perhaps a tragic accident, but it mattered little, as judging by the picture, he was just as strong-willed as her mother. He'd want her to be strong, too.

It was fitting that beneath the one photo of them all, she had found a small drawstring bag made of leather: inside being of most importance to her.

_I get the picture now, Mom, _she mused, clasping the small bag tightly within her hands. _Thanks._


	27. Chapter 27

Sonic and all other various Sonic The Hedgehog characters are Copyright SEGA, Sonic Team, TMS Entertainment, and all other associations affiliated with the Sonic X anime/manga. All other characters belong to their rightful owner (me) and have no similarities with above-said characters whatsoever. Names used for other characters are random. Any people bearing the real name, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

* * *

Sorry about the extensive delay. Been swamped with projects, as well as a scorching case of writer's block, especially with this chapter. I'm not a romance writer, so I was having a difficult time with this without it coming out painfully cheesy. I still think it came out corny as hell, but it's done, and it's time to move on. I hope you like, but if you don't, I don't blame you! LOL.  


* * *

27

The repairs had been completed, and upon the setting of the sun of the following day, the X-Tornado tore through the sky, headed toward the nation's capital to retrieve their comrade, Sonic.

Aside from a simple and brief meeting with Chris and Helen, who had met them at the entrance of the portal Chris' grandfather had built and later modified by Chris himself, there was no fanfare, no ticker-tape parade, no inkling of a hero's welcome for the group that had brought the earth back from the brink of epic disaster at the hands of Dr. Eggman. Their arrival was as silent as the outskirts of Station Square itself that was now settling in for the coming night.

And as Amy stared up at the first stars of the evening that came into view, her grasp around the small leather bag seemed to tighten with anticipation.

She paid no attention to the idle conversation Knuckles and Tails shared with each other, as her thoughts of meeting up with Sonic again seemed much more important. She giggled as she remembered Sonic looking up at her and telling her that she looked like an angel. She felt at ease knowing that she could now laugh at his silly comparison, but also a little skeptical at whether or not it was intended to be interpreted that way.

She felt her cheeks blush at just how close they had come to sharing a kiss she knew had taken way too long to engage in. If only Tails had arrived a few seconds later, one of her lifelong wishes would have come true.

But as with all good memories that come to the forefront, so, too, must come the bad ones. Almost as soon as his loving gaze had met hers, he was gone, whisked away by the many cases of intentional ineptitude that would often lead her to a stressful meltdown she'd often have to deal with herself.

And then there were times where there was promise, such as their adventure at the beach leading to Sonic's dive into the ocean to retrieve Amy after she had dealt Eggman a crushing blow not only to his Egg Mobile, but also to his robotic minions that had almost culminated in a watery death to the blue hedgehog.

Her cheeks blushed again as she recalled him taking an interest in the shell bracelet she had made after innocently eavesdropping on a young couple sharing a romantic moment at the beach. Eggman's robot had crushed it, but in returning to the Thorndyke garage that had been their temporary home away from home, she found it repaired and hanging loose around Sonic's wrist as he tried to recover from a nasty cold he had caught from being in the water.

For so long, she thought that that might've been the one moment that would lead her to her promised land: her and Sonic as a loving couple. However, such was not the case, as she found the bracelet in the garbage bin only a few days later. Though crushed, she convinced herself that perhaps Ella had found it lying somewhere and assumed that it was no longer wanted.

More times of her trying to swoon the hedgehog flashed before her eyes before the last one she honestly felt would have sealed the deal brought a tear to the corner of her eye.

Sonic had been left behind in the parallel dimension, the portal having been shut off by Chris. No one knew when he would return, if he would return. Most of the chaos emeralds had returned with Tails and Knuckles, leaving Sonic with only two, which was not nearly enough to create the same chaos control that had taken them in the first place.

Or so they had thought.

It was upon a late evening filled with all sorts of calamity, as Eggman and his robotic cohorts were up to no good once again, being loud and obnoxious as ever. They had teased Amy to the point where she, while visiting Cream and Vanilla, let her temper get the best of her, and while ablaze in a fiery red, began throwing Piko Hammer after Piko Hammer at Eggman's flying fortress, impaling it many times before their attention was suddenly turned toward Tails, who had emerged in the Tornado, grouchy from being awakened from his slumber.

Amy watched the fiasco leave their area, and after calming down, return back inside Vanilla's house to continue to contemplate her future and whether or not to wait for Sonic's return. Hours had passed by, with Cream falling asleep on her lap; Amy's hope had begun to waver as she continued to watch the skies for any sign of Sonic.

She was about to give up for another night when she had spotted what she had first thought was a falling star. How romantic it would've been to have shared the moment with Sonic by her side, her wish all but being well-known by the both of them perhaps being finally granted.

She lightly snickered at seeing Sonic's reaction, already knowing that the chances of that wish being granted were far too slim to ever take it serious. But upon looking at the falling star a second time, her expression melted from amusement to shock.

It was no falling star, but Sonic's reappearance in his altered form thanks to the power of the seven chaos emeralds.

She didn't know what to feel, or whether to believe her eyes or not. But she ran toward where the golden gleam was headed as fast as her legs could take her.

And as the sun ascended into its new day, Amy had finally reached Sonic mere feet from her front door, having returned to his normal state of blue complete with his confident smile.

Before he could so much as one word in, Amy unleashed upon him a flurry of feelings that had been held captive inside her soul for far too long, culminating in her breaking down emotionally and demanding that he just come out and tell her that he loved her because why would her house be the first place he would visit after missing for what seemed decades?

His response wasn't fancy, nor cheesy, rather, simple. On bended knee, bearing a single white rose that beheld a meaning of unity and purity of a newfound love, Sonic echoed the same sentiment, leaving Amy both speechless and breathless, until she crumbled into Sonic's unsuspecting arms, the remainder of her captive feelings spilling free.

But as time would pass, so to would Sonic. His constant distance began to make her question his integrity. Did he really mean what he said, or was it just another ploy to get her to feel better so he could make another getaway?

She looked down once again at the small bag she cradled in her hands, wondering.

_No,_ she confirmed to herself, _Sonic is different now._

She clasped her hands around the bag, closing her eyes.

_I pray that he's different._

* * *

"Well, Sonic," said Martinson with a yawn, "Looks like everything's working out just fine. Conrad and Craddock are locked up for good, and you made a full recovery. I'm telling you, buddy, we were all shocked to see how you were able to recover after such a terrible wound. No one usually makes it back full."

Sonic smirked and made a remark about having a tough physique helps, much to the amusement of the elder protector of the President. He leaned back in his wire chair that gleamed in white under the full moon that lazily hung in the black sky and propped his feet up on a nearby table.

"And it looks like this whole nation is bananas over you again," Martinson added as he folded up a newspaper that had Sonic's face plastered all over the front. He looked at his watch and rubbed his eye, "Well, Sonic, I'm headed in to switch with the night crew, then I'm hittin' the sack. I am beat. See you in the morning."

Sonic waved his good-bye, and then looked up at the night sky, sighing heavily.

_Al's a good guy, and it'll be tough to leave, but I can't keep up this charade forever. I miss everyone at home; I miss being able to run anywhere without being mobbed by crazy people._

He slipped his fingers into the back of his shoe and pulled out the photo of Amy and him in an uncomfortable hug.

_I miss Amy._

Tossing the photo onto the tabletop, Sonic leaned back and rested his head against his crossed arms, staring at the dark features on the original half of the moon, still not seeing where people thought there was once a face.

_ So now, again, I'm sitting right outside the White House doors, staring up at the sky, wondering if she actually said what I thought she said. It's not like she talked about it again._

_Maybe I was just imagining it or something. Maybe it just one of those instincts you get when trying to survive or whatever. Great, even my own head is playing mind games with me. Maybe I've got one of those damned chips in my head now. Thanks a lot, Mr. President._

He shuffled around, ending up with his head on his hand on the table, the picture in perfect eyeshot.

_Face it, Sonic, you screwed up too many times. I mean, look at her, for cryin' out loud. She's cute, and she has no problem putting up a fight, or getting her hands dirty. If she so chose it, she could definitely make a wonderful mother, and she knows it. But you screwed up, Sonic. You screwed up big time by never facing up to what you really felt. Instead, you just ran away. You always ran away._

"Sonic, you are a fool," he muttered to himself just as a finger tapped him on the shoulder.

Figuring it was Martinson, or perhaps someone from the night crew to remind him that he needed to be inside the White House during the overnight hours, he slowly turned only to see Amy.

"WAAAH!" Sonic yelped, falling backward over a chair.

"Since when does Sonic the Hedgehog talk to himself?" she said, flashing a wide grin.

"Amy Rose, you nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"I'll bet, with your mug on every channel? We all figured you made a full recovery and was in tip-top shape. Boy were they right!"

Sonic's cheeks flushed a little with the uncomfortable comment. "The, uh, Surgeon General himself issued the clean bill of health."

"Oh, thank goodness!" Amy said with delight, quickly leaning forward and wrapping her arms around the blue hedgehog.

Sonic looked at her with a broad smile, long after they had separated after sharing the hug. There she was, donned in her usual skirt made of red, complete with her hair band, though her bangs had minds of their own, floating down over her eyes from time to time.

"What?" Amy said with a slight laugh.

"Just looking at your hair," Sonic replied, quickly averting his stare to the pink hedgehog's head. "Looks like it all grew back, yes?"

Amy blew a runaway bang away from her eyes. "I guess. Not sure what it's doing just yet, though. It's a lot better than my military 'do, don't you think? Bleah!"

"Oh, whatever. Hair, no hair, some hair, it doesn't matter. You could even wear a potato sack and it would never change your inner beauty."

Amy gasped at such a straightforward remark made by someone seemingly incapable of ever making one when referencing another person's physique.

"I guess I'm just a little jealous now of one your boyfriends that may one day successfully win your heart."

Amy was speechless, and her eyes immediately looked down to the floor, perhaps to try and find something for a response, but the mere shock from hearing what he had said had her tongue twisted in an array of knots.

Sonic noticed.

"Sorry. Sorry," he retorted, shaking his head, "Don't pay any attention to me. Since I've been confined here of late, I've gotten a little stir-crazy. I don't know what I'm saying, Amy. I didn't mean anything by that."

"Sonic, maybe I've misled you," Amy finally said, finding the courage to respond. "After trying for so long to get you to pay attention to me, I began telling myself to not get too close unless I like getting my heart broken each time. I didn't want to end up the fool, but I do know that no other boyfriend could ever win my heart, nor will they ever…"

She reached over and grabbed one of Sonic's hands, and slowly turned him around to face her. And until she softly took his other hand, the blue hedgehog couldn't seem to look her in the eyes.

"…because you've already won it, Sonic. I've been in love with you for as long as I can remember. I've been ready to embrace my future with arms wide open, ready to include you with it."

Suddenly, she let go and looked away, a tear beginning to form in her eye.

"But every time I've allowed myself to open up like this, I've found myself alone, because you've run off…as if you never really were serious about anything. I don't want to be played a fool again, Sonic."

Amy began to turn away, defeated once again, but felt Sonic's hand suddenly grab hers, and tighten with authority.

"Amy," the blue hedgehog said, his voice quivering, "For all these years, I've gotten to know the real you just by being around. Yes, I've run off here and there when only tried to express your feelings, but that was only because I was scared of the unknown. I've never known true love, so I didn't know how to act."

He slowly turned her around and placed his other hand around hers.

"I've always had strong feelings for you, Amy, but I was simply too afraid to ever act on them. And now those feeling have turned to love, love that comes from the very depths of my soul. I feel it coarse through my heart and, well, what's left of my lung."

Amy wiped her tear away, smiled, and simply asked that Sonic take a deep breath as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him as passionately as ever, for the pursuit that had taken them through many years had finally come to an end.

Finally parting, Amy looked at Sonic, who sported a goofy grin and a face that bore multiple shades of red. "Well, that was certainly worth the wait."

Unable to mutter anything comprehensible, Sonic simply nodded in agreement, and let Amy rest her head against his chest.

"Why you waited until now to tell me how you felt about me is something I'll never figure out, but my life is more complete than  
I could've ever imagined. Right here, right now. Thank you, Sonic."

Again, they engaged in a passionate kiss before being interrupted by an agent barging in through the door.

"Oh, sorry, Sonic," he said, shyly looking away. "I hope I, uh, didn't interrupt anything. President Beamon just buzzed me with word that with your clean bill of health, you are hereby released to return home at your discretion. Um, that's all he told me. Good night and good luck with your future endeavors."

And with that, the agent hastily disappeared, leaving the two hedgehogs alone upon the patio once again.

"Well that was easy, I guess," Sonic mumbled, confused by the sudden turn of events.

* * *

Sonic and Amy walked by the Washington Monument as a full moon hung above, illuminating the earth in both a beautiful and eerie glow, while also brightly mirroring off of the nearby pool whose calm waters provided the perfect backdrop to their journey toward the rendezvous point Tails had proved to Amy before their separation once in Washington.

"So are you going to miss being the media darling, Sonic?" Amy asked, dragging the blue hedgehog's arm around her neck as if it were a scarf.

"Well, sort of," Sonic replied with a sly grin. "I was actually thinking of making my own talk show and focusing on…"

He noticed that Amy's expression was not keen on the idea.

"I'm just joking with you, but can you give me a more complete life?"

"Your boring friends and I will try," Amy replied with a laugh.

Awestruck by the sheer beauty of the moon cascading off of the pool, Sonic and Amy decided to sit upon the nearby steps, enjoying each other's company, as well as the scenery.

"For a city this big, it's actually kind of quiet right now," Amy noted while scooting closer to Sonic, his arm now around her waist.

Sonic turned and looked at Amy again. "Amy, right now, how are you?"

Amy rested her head on his shoulder. "Never better."

"I meant how are you in terms of…you know…everything that happened."

Amy looked up. "Better. The nightmares I'd been having at home have pretty much stopped, and the doctors said everything looks good with my head and neural functions. They still want to remove the chip, but they're looking at all of the risks involved, so it'll be quite a while before they do that."

"Well, no matter what happens, I'll always be there for you. Don't ever forget that."

Snuggling closer, Amy thanked him.

Sonic looked out over the pool just as a gentle breeze tickled his nose. "This is such a perfect evening, Amy. I don't know if it can get any better."

Amy giggled. "Oh, it might. I've got something for you."

She handed him the small leather bag, which was met with a perplexing gaze.

"What's this?" Sonic asked, timid.

"Look inside."

As if handling a priceless vase, Sonic gingerly untied the string and fished out a ring that had been waiting inside. He looked at it with wide eyes, and then looked back at Amy, who had sat upright in anticipation.

"It belonged to my mother."

She watched him swallow hard, and noticed his hand begin to shake.

_Well, he asked if it could get any more perfect. He's got the ring and the moonlight above. I've done all I can._

And as if on cue, Sonic took her hand into his, though still trembling, and gently kissed her forehead. "Amy, we've seen many things in our time, both thick and thin. We've always managed to find our paths constantly crossing. Tonight, I want us to never again cross paths, but to make it as one. I want nothing more than for you to be by my side forever more. Will you take my hand in marriage?"

And as he slipped the ring upon her ringer, a tear fell from Amy's eye and onto their clasped hands as she immediately nodded.

"I will, Sonic. I will."


	28. Chapter 28

Sonic and all other various Sonic The Hedgehog characters are Copyright SEGA, Sonic Team, TMS Entertainment, and all other associations affiliated with the Sonic X anime/manga. All other characters belong to their rightful owner (me) and have no similarities with above-said characters whatsoever. Names used for other characters are random. Any people bearing the real name, living or dead, is purely coincidental.  


* * *

This is the final chapter for Book I of The Onyx. I really hope you enjoyed this, as have I, for it was you guys who helped guide me along in setting this up and helping it flow smoothly. Obviously, there is more to come, and I am anticipating that there will be two more books to make it a trilogy. I had plans to work on another fiction, but I'm going to put that on the backburner for now and concentrate on this to the finish. Thank you all again!

* * *

28

Rouge and Tails sat atop one of the wings of the X-Tornado as the nearby Potomac River silently ebbed; it's silvery light gleaming from beneath the full moon that hung lazily behind a few rogue clouds that passed by. Also gleaming was the onyx shard Rouge held aloft in her hand, examining its mysterious features as she twisted and turned it every which way.

It seemed to be a blessing that Topaz had given them the shard to protect in their world from power-mongers enslaved by hunger for the one thing that could perhaps quench their thirst for desire of unrelenting and infinite power. It had a knack for corrupting the weak-minded and snaring them with visions of evil grandeur, and as long as it remained in a place where such cleverly hidden atrocities ran rampant, the risks that Craddock's footsteps being followed would always remain high.

There was talk of continuing research on the shard, much to the boisterous chagrin of those who had encountered a mere sampling of its power, but in an almost embarrassingly lopsided decision, the request was denied after a panel of top scientists were given statements recounting the events leading up to Craddock and Conrad's imprisonment.

Area 53 had been razed, its contents locked away in capsules that were then magnetically sealed in steel vaults far beneath FBI headquarters. No hard copies were ever transformed to digital copies for fear of a copycat situation mimicking the ARK hack attack arising, which immediately provided ease of mind to everyone in attendance.

The I.A.P. still loomed anonymously in various pods around the globe, though their activity had all but subsided when word of their involvement with the U.S. government had been uncovered, thus forever pinning them as a threat to society not only to the U.S., but to surrounding countries as well. A promise of eradication was made, but Rouge knew better than to take it seriously because ARK still floated in orbit well after the fiasco it had caused. She worried little since her hands would be clean of any government work anymore.

Aside from the promises made and the obligatory remarks of heroism read in scripted fashion by Topaz, however, there was one troubling factor only Knuckles had picked up on: the fact that nothing more had been mentioned of the archaeological site that had yielded the shard.

And though the echidna remained silent about that omission, mainly for desire to return home and resume his ongoing protection of not only the Master Emerald, but also his daughter, a nagging sense of uneasiness remained lodged in his thoughts. For it was within a site that bore frighteningly similarities that he encountered a fellow treasure hunter, Hawk, in dire straits.

The portly man had fallen victim to a trap set by the tribesmen to thwart thieves from pillaging their temple, consisting of gravity-fed gadgets that resulted in a transfer of weights of rocks and sand that caused the walls of the chamber he had fallen into to move inward, as if it were a trash compactor. Had it not been for Knuckles passing by in a search for a chaos emerald that had been located in that area, the man would've been crushed to death.

A few punches later, both the echidna and the man were free, and it was from that impromptu meeting that Knuckles had not only learned where Hawk had been keeping the emerald, but also came across the elusive shovel claw, which was a tool most common to echidnas, but not humans. They had also been unearthed from the temple.

For the time being, it simply made sense to the echidna that perhaps the ripple in time caused by the initial chaos control had sent one of the ancient temples from his world to the parallel dimension. He convinced himself that it was simply coincidence, and thought nothing of it ever again until his eyes had fallen upon the data sheets outlining the archaeological site from whence the onyx shard had come from.

The echidna stared at the temple's profile long and hard while the others continued on with their statements, daring not to question his memories and his confirmation. But no matter what his thoughts tried to convey, noting that the last execution of chaos control had somewhat fixed the rip in time and space, separating the two dimensions at least, but not quite separating the diameters of time itself, something about the temple he had seen unnerved him.

And as he paced along the steps leading up to the monument raised in remembrance of one of the nation's founding fathers, he took notice of Rouge appraising the jewel, gawking at it, perhaps calculating its worth.

"I really wish you'd just put that thing away," he grumbled, pointing. "I don't like it."

Rouge snickered. "My, are we jealous?"

Knuckles curled his lip in disgust, continued his impatient gait.

"It's been almost an hour past the rendezvous! Where could those two be?"

"Relax, Knuckles," Tails chimed in. "It's not like we're in a rush anyway."

"Not in a rush? I need to get back and guard the Master Emerald! Eggman could be anywhere, you know!"

Shaking his head, knowing that Eggman couldn't get back since he and Sonic had all the emeralds in their possession, Tails leaned back on his hands and stared at one he had dragged out of the control panel of his jet, which used the emerald's power to induce its speed. He had taken a special interest in how the black shard never really reacted much when the chaos emerald was near, making him wonder how the whole machine that controlled Amy work in the first place.

Perhaps it had been a collaborative effort based off of Eggman's genius: build the machine to be run off the emeralds, but leave the transfer and deciphering of her brainwaves up to the shard itself.

He looked at the gem in Rouge's hand, and suddenly came to the conclusion that the onyx shard used the power emanating from her energy rings she wore on her wrists to fuel its power through her, and the be processed by the computer chip to accept commands from an external source.

He snapped his fingers and recited his thoughts to Rouge, who responded with a blank stare.

"Run that by me again, fox boy," she said, "But this time make sense."

"Amy's energy rings were the one thing the shard could inject its power into," Tails explained, "Probably because the chaos emerald would've rejected unidentifiable energy, causing some sort of ripple effect kind of like chaos control, but much more violent. Energy rings have no good or bad side to it, which allowed it to sort of soak in this negatively charged power, causing it to change colors and feed it through her body up to the chip in her head. From there, Eggman was able to use his machine to control her. When I used the magnetic waves from the X-Tornado's radar jammer, it caused the dark energy to fluctuate because the energy rings became unstable. The onyx shard's energy came back on itself as an outlet, causing the rings to overreact and disintegrate, releasing the hold it had on her."

"That explains the room I saw in Area 53, then," Rouge confirmed, finally making sense of Tails' explanation. She gingerly placed the shard on the plane's hull. "Wow, what a punch this little guy's got, eh?"

"You said it. Those people involved in that accident weren't transported at all, they were _vaporized_."

"But what could've caused that when all they had were some prehistoric machines that couldn't even come close to emitting the same amount of energy in one ring?"

Tails shrugged his shoulders and shook his head.

Rouge suddenly sat upright. "Unless…"

"Unless what?"

"Unless they had the second prototype to Project Shadow."

"What?"

"Think about it, Tails. The government issued a statement stating that one of the prototypes had been lost. The _government_."

Realization swept across the fox's face. "They had it all along, didn't they?"

"What do you mean 'had'? They still have it, though most of it is probably useless by now, since they probably lost just about everything in the accident. I hope so, anyway. But what about what Topaz had told us? The part about where the scientists found one of Shadow's rings that had fallen back to earth after the ARK battle? They couldn't get to the energy in there, so how did these guys manage to do it some fifty odd years ago?"

"Don't know. Robotnik could've been a part of that before turning toward _Project Shadow_. The man was a certified genius, so it's hard telling what he invented during his time here."

Rouge blinked and rested back on her palms. It made sense that Robotnik may have had a part in the accidental release of the shard's energy, but what still didn't was _how_ that energy was released. Rouge contemplated it, wondering how Amy had been, for the most part, unaffected by the supposed dark energy flowing through the energy rings on her wrists, using them as its carrier until she would release it through her mind and choice of weapon.

She looked at her own hand, perhaps coming to a conclusion that it was their physical makeup that could control the energy, whereas humans could not and were therefore vaporized as a result.

She sighed, as nothing made sense again. "Well, whatever. We've got it now, and no one is going to be bothering it anytime soon."

"Right, no one," added Tails as he grabbed the black-colored shard away from the always-self-proclaimed jewel thief; his attention suddenly diverted toward Sonic and Amy as they nonchalantly sauntered in, having walked through from the other side of the monument. "Sonic! Amy!"

"Now, Sonic," Amy whispered, clinging to her husband-to-be's arm, the ring on her finger shining ever so brightly against the moonlight. "Let's just keep it between us for now, okay?"

"Sure, sure," Sonic laughed, waving at Tails.

"Well, well, well," Knuckles grumbled, walking over with his arms crossed and sporting a face devoid of anything slightly humorous. "Took you two long enough."

"Had to take time out to tell all my adoring fans goodbye, Knuckles," Sonic quipped with an outstretched arm and a smile laden with sarcasm and attitude.

For a moment, silence ruled them all. Everyone looked at Sonic, then Knuckles, then at each other, not knowing what was going to happen next.

But what did happen was undeniably unexpected, as the echidna's mouth slowly warped into a smile, and the smile into a chuckle.

"Right," Knuckles bellowed. "Now, can we get please get back?"

"Let me guess, Knucklehead," Sonic said with a sigh. "Your precious Master Emerald awaits, right?"

"Actually, I was talking about my daughter, but that, too."

Sonic clutched at his chest, mocking a heart attack. "Do my ears deceive me, or has Knuckles the Echidna actually put something in front of the Master Emerald in terms of importance? Has the entire world gone mad now?"

"Maybe it has," Rouge added, allowing the echidna to wrap his arms around her neck. "Sorry, Amy, for not being able to bring Sapphy by when we all got back. Daddy back here didn't want any time away."

Amy smiled. "Oh, that's okay. I got all the practice I needed."

Sonic's eyes widened, and he shot a look of surprise toward the pink hedgehog. "Wha--?"

Amy's face reddened a little as she giggled nervously. "Just…ah…a figure of speech, Sonic."

"Well, Sonic, looks like you're pretty much back in charge, so where we off to?" Tails asked as he climbed into the pilot's seat.

Sonic, as he stepped toward the back of the X-Tornado as it slowly rose up into the night sky, peered out over the city lights, and smiled.

"Home," he said. "I could use a rest."

_**END BOOK I**_


End file.
